Contact centre agent attrition rises for first time in three years

Agent turnover up by almost a third and forecast to rise even higher over the next three years according to research authors ContactBabel

New research published by ContactBabel, the contact centre industry analysts, reveals that the mean annual attrition rate for UK contact centre agents rose to 21% in 2011, from a 6-year low of 16% in 2010, a year-on-year increase of 31%.

2014 agent attrition rates are forecast to rise even higher, hitting 26%, with outsourcing, retail, services and telecoms amongst the sectors with the highest levels of attrition.

"The UK Contact Centre HR & Operational Benchmarking Survey (1st edition 2011)", is a major study of 208 UK contact centre operations, looking in depth at salaries, attrition, absence, recruitment, training, operational performance benchmarks, budgets and growth. The report costs £295 + VAT and is available from www.contactbabel.com/reports.cfm

The report's author, Steve Morrell, commented: "Although 2011 has seen a jump in agent attrition rates, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as high attrition tends to go hand-in-hand with economic growth as more opportunities arise inside and outside the contact centre industry.

"Historically, the industry average for attrition tends to be around 25% in a healthy, growing economy. Furthermore, 36% of respondents to our survey still report very low attrition rates of less than 10%, so any jump in attrition is not yet industry-wide." 

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