Research

Contact center trends & outlook

The industry is poised for growth in late 2021 amid economic recovery

April 27, 2021
Workplace models and geographic footprints are set to change post-pandemic.

Pre-COVID, less than 10 percent of contact center employees worked from home. Contact center operators will need to evaluate their work-from-home workforce in a high attrition environment amid the pandemic and through recovery. Everest Group found that 88 percent of operators expect a great share of remote working in their models, but nearly three-quarters expect to establish small-scale centers and over half expect to establish more hubs.

While total U.S. employment for customer service representatives (CSRs) declined by 0.4 percent year-over-year to 2.75 million jobs, demand for labor kept pace in key industries amid the pandemic. 

Some of the largest increases in demand were recorded in Charlotte, Detroit and three markets in Texas: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. We expect new hires to grow as the year progresses and outsourcing spending increases amid macroeconomic growth. Las Vegas, Seattle and Austin are projected to be the top employment growth markets by 2025.

Top 20 CSR Growth Markets, 2020-2025

Chart Source: EMSI  *Data shown for CBSAs with a population of 100,000 and more

The latest relief package and sentiment on minimum wage policies will be key topics of interest for operators in 2021.

2021 ushers in a new administration with policy implications for contact centers. While a federal minimum wage policy failed to be included in the latest relief package through the reconciliation process, minimum wages continue to evolve at the state and city level across the United States.

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