A recent major study of over 200 contact center operations carried out by ContactBabel, has found that the average salary for a new contact center agent in 2008 was $26,067, a decline of almost $2,000 on the previous year. Those in the telecoms, media and technology sector fared best, being paid an average basic salary of $30,465, whereas agents working in outsourced operations were paid an average of only $21,415.
Experienced agents can expect a salary premium of 22% over new agents, with team leaders being paid an average of just over $40,000. A contact center manager's average basic salary was slightly over $60,000.
With average salaries static or declining across the industry, a classical economist could read into this that the demand for contact center agents is more than being met: if not, salaries would necessarily have risen to attract more people into the industry. Yet, in fact, the US contact center industry is reporting further requirements for more agents.
11% of survey respondents state that there are plans to reduce the numbers of agent within their contact centers in 2009, 33% state that there will be little or no material change, and 56% are planning definite growth in headcount. Of the latter group, the average planned headcount increase is 30%.
Despite this increase in demand for contact center labor, an observer would not necessarily expect salaries to go up as well, as where labor supply is plentiful and matches this demand, salaries would remain steady. However, contact centers are reporting consistent problems with both recruitment and retention, indicating that the supply of labor is lacking, and as such, salaries would have been expected to grow. That they have not grown - and in many cases, actually declined - may perhaps be explained in two ways.
Firstly, the contact center is often not in charge of its own investment plans. In many businesses, there is a schism - sometimes of both a physical and intellectual nature - between the senior executives who decide budgets and the operational management of the contact center. The contact center is viewed as a cost center, a necessary evil, divorced from the reality of making money, and the lack of interest in, and understanding of its potential shown by senior executives is often demonstrated by low investment levels. Put simply, the contact center does not have the ability to set salary levels which are commensurate with what it is trying to achieve.
Secondly, the view of supply and demand set out above is too simplistic, assuming that the labor pool is homogenous: that all agents are equal. A low salary does not necessarily mean that absolute labor supply problems will ensue, but it does make it more likely that the quality of staff will not be as high, with better potential agents being able to earn higher salaries by working in other industries. As the job of a contact center agent is generally getting more complex, attracting agents with lower skills than had previously been the case will obviously cause negative issues with performance and staff retention.
The economic downturn is likely to alleviate this considerably. Recent US Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show a 7.6% unemployment rate, compared to 4.9% 12 months earlier, an increase of 4.1m people. Half of this decline occurred in the last quarter of 2008.
In 2009, the picture appears positive for those wishing to recruit into their contact centers. Salaries are very unlikely to increase, and with growing unemployment and widespread concern over job security, recruiters are more likely to have their pick of high-quality contact center staff, with a likely drop in voluntary agent attrition rates as well.
More information on the contact center market can be found at www.supportindustry.com
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