Call Center Job Creation Drops Over 50% During First Half of 2021
by King White, on Jul 19, 2021 5:06:47 PM
The lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced call center job creation by 56% when comparing mid-year 2020 to 2021. There were only 43,887 jobs announced in the first half of 2021 compared to 77,850 during the first half of 2020. The U.S. market is slowly returning back to the office while most nearshore and offshore locations are challenged with the slow rollout of vaccines. Most companies are still trying to figure out what their future footprint and workforce will look like in the future as work-from-home trends continue to unfold. The following table provides a summary of the data:
Call Center Job Creation & Displacement
| Q1-Q2 2020 | Q1-Q2 2021 | Change | |
| # of Call Center Jobs Created | 77,850 | 43,887 | -33,963 |
| # of New & Expanded Sites | 121 | 118 | -3 |
| # of Call Center Jobs Displaced | 9,944 | 3,351 | -6,593 |
| # of Closed & Downsized Sites | 38 | 12 | -26 |
The U.S. and the Philippines had the largest decrease in job creation
Call center site selection in the traditional sense drastically changed as a result of the pandemic. Many companies shifted to hub-and-spoke and virtual recruitment strategies. As a result, job creation data may not be completely reflective of job creation. Based on the same methodology for gathering the data, the following table summarizes job creation by region.
Call Center Job Creation by Region
| Region | Q1-Q2 2020 | Q1-Q2 2021 | Change |
| Africa | 3,000 | 6,900 | 3,900 |
| Asia-Pacific | 4,240 | 1,175 | -3,065 |
| Canada | 950 | 550 | -400 |
| Eastern Europe | 550 | 1,250 | 700 |
| India | - | 800 | 800 |
| LACA | 4,682 | 8,880 | 4,198 |
| Middle East | - | 500 | 500 |
| Philippines | 16,400 | 2,010 | -14,390 |
| USA | 43,320 | 17,938 | -25,382 |
| Western Europe | 4,708 | 3,884 | -824 |
| Total | 77,850 | 43,887 | -33,963 |
These 25 companies announced major call center job creation in 2021
Some companies are continuing to expand across the globe as they need to meet the demand of their customers or realign their global call center footprint. For example, there has been significant announcements in Latin America and South Africa by both captive and business process outsourcing companies. The following table identifies 25 of the largest announcements made during the first half of 2021.
25 Largest Call Center Expansion Announcements
Q1-Q2 2021
| Company | # of Jobs | Location | Expansion Type |
| Amazon | 5,000 | Cape Town, South Africa | Expansion |
| IBEX | 1,500 | Portmore, Jamaica | New Site |
| Asurion | 1,500 | Bogota, Colombia | New Site |
| Webhelp | 1,400 | Cape Town, South Africa | Expansion |
| itelBPO | 1,000 | Kingston, Jamaica | New Site |
| Telus International | 1,000 | Ililio City, Philippines | New Site |
| Alorica | 1,000 | Cali, Colombia | New Site |
| Discover Financial Services | 1,000 | Chicago, IL | New Site |
| Sitel | 1,000 | Athens, Greece | New Site |
| Concentrix | 1,000 | Costa Rica | Expansion |
| Concentrix | 1,000 | Jamaica | Expansion |
| Spectrum | 929 | El Paso, TX | Expansion |
| Pfizer | 600 | Tampa, FL | New Site |
| NewDay | 600 | West Palm Beach, FL | New Site |
| Ibex | 560 | Bohol, Philippines | New Site |
| Transcom | 550 | Bogota, Colombia | New Site |
| T-Mobile | 540 | North Charleston, SC | Expansion |
| Firstsource | 500 | Farmers Branch, TX | New Site |
| Teleperformance | 500 | Romania | Expansion |
| Medica | 500 | St. Paul, MN | New Site |
| Sykes | 500 | Hyderabad, India | New Site |
| Fidelity Investments | 500 | Research Triangle Park, NC | Expansion |
| Fidelity Investments | 475 | Westlake, TX | Expansion |
| Chime Solutions | 450 | Dallas, TX | Expansion |
| TTEC | 450 | Overland Park, KS | New Site |
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the call center industry continues to unfold. Companies continue to attempt to determine if they bring everyone back into their call center facilities, shift to a hub-and-spoke model, or go 100% virtual. Site Selection Group will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates and the trends begin to further materialize.
