Contact centres rely heavily on temporary or contract workers to service their front-line operations.

The key reasons for this is increased flexibility due to;

• High attrition levels which allow temporary workers to be brought in quickly.
• Seasonal variation in call volumes mean that fluctuating staffing levels are required to support peaks and troughs.

There is a catch 22 situation as well in that, the more temporary staff in situ, in some cases, the higher the attrition rate.  This can be brought about by temporary workers job-hopping or seeking more permanent work. 

Contact centres may well have fixed budgets for permanent staff and a variable budget for temporary workers. They may work to an 80/20 ratio of permanent to temporary staff.