‘The Big Stay’: Contact Center Staff Sour On 'Job Hopping'
David Filwood
CEO | TeleSoft Systems | People & Process Improvement For Contact Centers
The employment market for Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) has begun to cool a little.
Total CSR job postings declined somewhat during the second half of 2023 – but demand for job applicants still remains at levels not seen in over a decade.
Employers are still struggling to attract quality frontline CSRs in enough numbers.
Too many Contact Centers are still chasing too few candidates – continuing to fuel CSR wage inflation.
Salary.com reports that for 2023 – CSR median hourly wages surged past $24/Hour in labor markets like Boston / New York City / Los Angeles / San Francisco / Seattle – and topped $20/Hour in metro areas such as Atlanta / Charlotte / Dallas / Kansas City / Las Vegas / Phoenix / Tampa.
For the Past Several Years CSRs Have Been ‘Job Hopping’ in Record Numbers
‘Job Hoppers’ are CSRs who quit working for you in order to go do the same work at another Contact Center for more money.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that since the Covid19 pandemic lockdowns – ‘Job Hopping’ has become a fast growing trend among younger employees – turning some Contact Centers into never ending revolving doors of voluntary turnover.
‘Job Hopping’ was up nearly 33% during 2021/2022 – and ‘Job Hoppers’ averaged 100%+ wage increases over job stayers.
During the second half of 2023 – CSR wage inflation began to slow – with ‘Job Hoppers’ only averaging 50% wage increases over job stayers.
Flex Scheduling / Workplace Wellness Top 'Job Hopping' for CSRs in 2024
‘The Big Stay’ marks a shift from ‘Job Hopping’ – as CSRs lean toward staying put – prioritizing security & Work/Life Balance in a more uncertain economic climate.
Contact Center employers who have embraced flexible work arrangements and prioritised CSR well being have created work environments that promote employee loyalty & retention.
Contact Center Customer Service is Powered by Women
Roughly 80% of CSRs are female – and two thirds are working mothers.
Since Covid19 hit – working mothers have been spending nearly 50% more time on childcare / education / household chores / eldercare than they did prior to the pandemic.
A Bloomberg News survey – of 72 executives managing 400,000 hourly wage customer facing staff – reported that 63% of Voluntary Quits during ‘The Great Resignation’ period May 2021 to May 2022 were working mothers.
The Bloomberg study highlighted that these working mothers weren’t primarily quitting in order to ‘Job Hop’ to do the same work for another company for more money – they were quitting mainly because of Work/Life Balance issues – mostly associated with inflexible scheduling.
8 Hour Shifts 5 Days a Week Just Aren’t Working for Many Working Mom CSRs
Flexible scheduling is important to many CSRs – more so for women than men – and valued most by CSRs who are parents needing to perform childcare / home schooling / household chores / eldercare during the traditional workday.
Working mother CSRs are more than 6x as likely as their male coworkers to cite schedule conflicts with family priorities as their reason for chronic / habitual Absenteeism.
These are people looking for a ‘Mom Friendly’ workplace – where they can have more control over their hours & personal lives.
Compressed Work Weeks Offer Working Mom CSRs Flexible Scheduling Alternatives
Google / Amazon / Global financial advisory firm KPMG have recently reported on 10 hour / 4 day / 40 hour work week plus ‘3 Day Weekend’ pilot programs they’ve been operating in some of their Contact Centers.
They’ve found that compressed work weeks:
British Telecom recently released the results of the 10 hour day / 4 day work week pilot program they ran with 1,500 of their CSRs:
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Split Shifts Offer Work@Home CSRs Flexible Scheduling Alternatives
Stamford CT consumer financial services company Synchrony empowers their Work@Home CSRs to schedule split shifts.
70% of Synchrony Work@Home CSRs are mothers.
CSRs can divide their workday into two parts – and work four hours in the morning – take a three hour break to take care of personal / family commitments – and then work a second four hour shift in the late afternoon / early evening.
CSRs can also choose one or two days during the week to only work an AM or PM shift – and then finish out the rest of their scheduled hours over the weekend.
CSRs can choose to work as little as 30 Hours/Week and still receive full benefits.
Synchrony reports that these flexible working arrangements have boosted CSR morale – become a major source of job satisfaction – helped employees find the Work/Life Balance they need – especially those with childcare / education / household chores / eldercare responsibilities – while decreasing Absenteeism by 30%.
Contact Centers Should Consider Becoming More ‘Mom Friendly’ Workplaces
As long as your company’s business requirements are being met – taking advantage of the benefits that come from offering CSRs flexible working arrangements – through compressed work weeks / split shifts – can help you to attract more applicants – increase employee job engagement – improve productivity – reduce stress / absenteeism / attrition / turnover – while enhancing staff Work/Life Balance.
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