U.S. Call Center Job Creation Declines As Nearshore & Offshore Geographies Grow

Call center jobs in the U.S. continue to decline as companies continue to shift work to nearshore and offshore geographies. The trend will likely stay its course until the U.S. economy recovers and labor conditions stabilize. Whether you are outsourcing or managing in-house call centers, it is critical to understand market dynamics to help develop your onshore, nearshore and offshore call center footprint. To help you understand these trends, Site Selection Group evaluated our proprietary call center project announcement data from pre-pandemic through the first half of 2023.

Historic call center job creation by region 

The following data provides a summary of call center jobs announced due to companies announcing new sites, expansion of existing sites, and work-from-home hiring initiatives. The U.S. continues to trend downward while key offshore regions such as Africa, India, Latin America and the Caribbean continue to take market share.

Call Center Job Announcements
2019-2023

Nearshore and offshore challenges ahead

Despite their current success, most nearshore and offshore locations are entering unchartered territory from a labor market perspective. Key offshore destinations such as Jamaica, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Colombia and others are becoming saturated with too many call centers,  causing wage inflation and employee attrition. It may not be sustainable if companies continue to expand due to the availability of qualified workers, especially bilingual workers. The value propositions in many locations will begin to decrease as a result. Companies outsourcing to nearshore and offshore regions need to understand how their business process outsourcing agreements are structured to minimize their exposure to increasing costs.

These 25 companies announced major call center job creation in 2023

Some companies are continuing to expand across the globe as they need to meet the demands of their customers or realign their global call center footprint. The following table identifies 30 of the largest announcements made during the first half of 2023.

30 Largest Call Center Expansion Announcements
Q1-Q2 2023

Conclusions

The movement of call center jobs across the globe has been happening for the last 20 years. The U.S. call center industry will continue to face challenges until labor conditions soften and the U.S. economy recovers. The unemployment rate continues to be very low despite the recessionary-type conditions that the U.S. economy sits in today. Only time will tell if and when reshoring initiatives emerge as consumers demand higher quality customer service that is more likely delivered by onshore call center operations. If you need help evaluating call center locations to outsource or locate your in-house call center operations, please reach out to our site selection experts to find the best solution for you.