AGENT WORKFORCES
BY BRENT HOLLAND , INTELLIANTE
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK
THE CONTACT CENTER TALENT CRISIS – PART 1 AND HOW HIRING UNDERREPRESENTED ( AND DIVERSE ) WORKFORCES CAN HELP .
Sarah , an operations director at a Phoenix-Ariz . -area healthcare contact center , used to focus on KPIs and coaching her team . Now , she stares at empty workstations , dark screens , silent headsets , and a growing customer queue .
" We used to get 50 quality applications a week ," she says , refreshing her recruiting dashboard for the hundredth time . " Now we ' re lucky to see 10 ."
Sarah ' s words echo the fears of an industry on the brink . Declining populations , shrinking workforce participation , and a widening skills gap aren ' t just challenges ; they foreshadow a looming crisis .
The struggle extends beyond Sarah ' s center and Phoenix . It ' s a global reality . As customers demand faster , smarter , more empathetic service , the people capable of delivering it are vanishing .
For contact centers , the question is no longer how to hire but if there will be enough quality talent to hire at all .
Korn Ferry estimates that by 2030 , the global workforce will face a shortfall of 85 million skilled workers , equal to the combined populations of Canada and Germany . For contact centers , the heartbeat of customer experience ( CX ) isn ' t just a troubling forecast ; it ' s a siren blaring .
FOR CONTACT CENTERS , THE QUESTION IS NO LONGER HOW TO HIRE BUT IF THERE WILL BE ENOUGH QUALITY TALENT TO HIRE AT ALL .
20 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE