BY BRENDAN READ, CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE; Q & A WITH JOHN H.( JACK) BOYD
Contact centers are no exception where outbound telesales centers can leverage AI to more quickly identify sales targets and for inbound centers to more easily provide customer support and solve problems.
SO, TO BE SURE THAT WOULD MEAN A LOWER DEMAND FOR AGENTS? AND IF SO, WOULD THAT NOW MEAN THAT AUTOMATED CHANNELS ARE THE DEFAULT AND PEOPLE( AGENTS) ARE THE BACKUP WHEN CUSTOMERS FAIL TO OBTAIN SATISFACTION?
A: Yes, that is an accurate overview. Overall demand for contact center agents is on a downward trajectory due to automation and AI applications with people increasingly performing the role as backup when customer problems are not yet resolved.
THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS( BLS) FORECASTS CONTINUED DECLINING LABOR SUPPLY GROWTH AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATES TO 2032. WILL THERE BE A SMALLER SUPPLY, BUT ALSO SHORTAGES OF CONTACT CENTER AGENTS ONCE AUTOMATION HAS BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR? AND IF SO, WHAT FACTORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?
A: According to our 2024 BizCosts. com survey, there is a significant shortage of contact center agents, with many companies struggling to find and retain qualified staff.
This is due to high turnover rates, skill set deficiencies, wages not keeping pace with historic rates of inflation, and the repetitive nature of the work. Also the ever-growing public backlash over automated and unsolicited sales calls.
Looking longer term, we do see automation getting the upper hand over BLS forecasts of a declining labor supply growth and falling labor force participation rates. This should provide some welcome relief to contact center HR managers and their current hiring struggles.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION POLICY IMPACTS
WHAT IMPACTS DO YOU SEE ON THE CONTACT CENTER LABOR SUPPLY AND COSTS FROM THE ACTIONS BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?
A: Let’ s look at these in turn.
Federal government downsizing, privatization The Trump Administration plans to slash a whopping 75 % of the two million federal workforce, which is not unlike Elon Musk’ s massive job cuts at Twitter when he first bought and re-engineered it.
President Trump, coming from the private sector, also plans to privatize as much federal contact center activity throughout the government as possible. This Trump initiative will create business opportunities for the contact center industry.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion( DEI) pullback There is a massive pullback on DEI initiatives- first led by the banking and financial services industry- and extended to virtually all sectors of the U. S. business community.
Supported by the Trump Administration and GOP states, they are moving away from DEI and towards meritocracy in their hiring and human resources policies.
" OVERALL DEMAND FOR CONTACT CENTER AGENTS IS ON A DOWNWARD TRAJEC- TORY DUE TO AUTOMATION AND AI APPLICATIONS..."
-- JACK BOYD
Nearshoring / offshoring President Trump’ s focus on reshoring businesses to the U. S. through tariffs, federal procurement policies, and his“ bully pulpit” will create opportunities for lower-cost U. S. markets to attract call centers that have“ nearshored” in recent years to the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Also, outsourcing centers like those operating in India and the Philippines are especially at risk of losing market share, jobs, and new investment to reshoring.
But the absence of concrete policy statements, possible incentives, tax reforms, or penalties for taking jobs offshore at this early stage of Trump’ s new administration makes it impossible to project the number of job losses. But they could be substantial.
Yes, Trump’ s Administration and its trade policies are causing uncertainty in outsourcing markets. But they also present opportunities for countries that wish to negotiate new favorable trade deals with the U. S. An example would be a Central American nation that may wish to expand its call center industry with new U. S. accounts in exchange for cracking down on illegal immigration or drug trafficking.
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