Philippine contact center industry sees declining attrition rates

MANILA — The Philippines’ call center industry has seen falling attrition rates in the last few years, with the sector optimistic that the number of agents resigning will further decline.

Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) Board Director Haidee Enriquez on Monday presented industry data showing that voluntary attrition rates fell to 31 percent in 2022 from 36 percent in 2021.

It further slowed to 19 percent in the first half of 2023, and is expected to settle at around 30 percent for the entire year.

“We believe it is, primarily, the flexibility of work arrangements,” Enriquez said when asked about the reasons for the slowing attrition rates.

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“Many of our member companies have flexed to the requirement of hybrid, or permanent work-from-home at a certain extent, as well as our pivot to countryside expansion to be near where they are,” she added.

Based on the results of CCAP’s annual Attrition and Retention Survey, the top three reasons for resignations of contact center employees are better pay (69 percent), better growth opportunities (68.5 percent), and health (46 percent).

Despite falling attrition rates, the inadequate supply of talent remains the top challenge for an industry that recorded $35.9 billion in revenues last year, according to the trade association.

The CCAP official said the shortfall could be as high as 150,000 workers across the sector to date.

According to CCAP data, the topmost challenging role to hire is for big data, data analytics, and business intelligence.

This is followed by application development, accounting and finance, cyber security, and human resources.