UK contact centre industry expects agent numbers to grow at by 6.8 per cent – nearly twice the rate of inflation – according to a new report by industry analyst ContactBabel.
The majority of retail and distribution, outsourcing, finance, TMT and services
respondents expect significant increases in headcount, while public sector respondents are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the least bullish, along with the transport and travel and utilities sectors.
Overall, 44 per cent of respondents expect significant growth in agent headcount in the next 12 months, with only 19 per cent expecting further shrinkage.
The general feeling of being over the worst of the recession is supported by figures showing the per-capita induction course expenditure being up to almost £1,900, which is a 60% increase on last year.
The UK Contact Centre Decision-Makers’ Guide (8th edition – 2010), is a major study of over 200 UK contact centre operations, looking at all areas of contact centre performance, investment, technology, HR and strategy.
In terms of investment, over the past 12 months, large contact centres have seen a rise in Capex, with 40 per cent of respondents seeing investment growth, compared with 24 per cent in 2009.
The report’s author, Steve Morrell, said the sector is now witnessing the green shoots of recovery: “It is often said that the first cuts to be made in a recession are in training and marketing budgets, as the negative results of these will be felt sometime in the future rather than immediately. The 2009 training budget figures bore that out, with a dramatic drop in training expenditure, but this trend seems to be in reversal now.”
