Despite the recession, roughly 68 percent of call center managers plan to increase hiring over the next 12 months by more than 10 percent, compared to 2008, according to the second annual Contact Center Recruitment and Compensation Survey from call center hiring solutions provider FurstPerson.

The survey, which polled more than 100 call center managers, also shows that the recession has led to much lower voluntary attrition – meaning that more call center agents are reluctant to leave their jobs, mainly because they have much fewer job opportunities.

“Compared to 2008, 2009 voluntary turnover was consistently lower,” a press release promoting the new survey states. “The current economic conditions may be driving reduced voluntary attrition.”

The reduced agent attrition has led to reduced recruiting and hiring costs. According to the survey, the average cost of attrition in North American call centers in 2009 was 22 percent lower than in 2008, when it was $4,284.73 per agent.

Interestingly, the survey shows that a center's attrition rate is related to the length of tenure for its director.

"As companies prepare to staff up for the coming year, they will have to weed through an even deeper pool of applicants due to the economic downturn," said Jeff Furst, president and chief executive officer of FurstPerson, in the release. "Hiring wisely is still of tantamount importance and this survey clearly reveals the high costs associated with turnover and attrition.”

“FurstPerson's focus is to be a hiring support solution for managers so they can add talent smartly -- quality talent which will help them maintain high customer service levels,” Furst added.

FurstPerson is a Chicago-based company that provides pre-employment screening and assessment solutions to call centers via Internet using the software-as-a-service model. Its flagship call center hiring system, 1stHire, is used in more than 600 locations across North America, Europe and Asia. FurstPerson's call center hiring solution includes call center simulations, problem solving tests, personality tests and analytics, all integrated on a single platform.

Source: Tmcnet.com