UK contact centres expect a recruitment drive in 2014

58% are planning a headcount increase next year, while only 18% forecast a drop in agent numbers.

The findings have been drawn from the “The UK Contact Centre HR & Operational Benchmarking Report (3rd edition 2013/14)”, a study of 210 UK contact centre operations.

Further findings from the report include:

• The average contact centre manager’s salary is forecast to increase by 18% by 2016
• Call length continues to increase, with service calls taking 21% longer than 10 years ago, and sales calls lengthening by 56% since 2006, despite improvements in contact centre technology and business processes
• Median agent attrition rates in large (200+ seat) contact centres are 2.6 times higher than in sub-50 seat operations

“The strong growth in agent headcount last year, coupled with the generally positive changes in investment and headcount planned for 2014 shows that the UK contact centre industry has emerged from the recession in good shape,” said Steve Morrell, author of the report. “The improvement in KPIs along with other financial indicators show that the contact centre has a more clearly defined role within a business – no longer does it have to balance precariously between providing acceptable service while paring call length to the bone – it is now the provider of premium quality, personalised customer support, regardless of channel.”

The UK Contact Centre HR & Operational Benchmarking Report (3rd edition 2013/14) costs £295 + VAT and is available for download here.