CARMEL,
Ind. — Three years ago, when Conseco moved 800 jobs to India,
its chief executive was clear that his pioneer outsourcing was
doing more than cutting costs.
"I'm convinced there's better customer service in India.
It's no good here," then-CEO Gary Wendt told The Indianapolis
Star.
These days, more than 150 workers at Conseco's headquarters here
— along with 100 workers at a Chicago-based subsidiary —
field calls from independent agents and customers that a year
ago were handled from a city near New Delhi.
Conseco, which sells life, health and annuity policies to middle-income
clients, expected to save millions by moving the work to the world's
second-most-populous nation. Instead, the switch was hurt by 9/11,
cultural differences and intense pressure to quickly cut costs.
