Demand for call center jobs see sharp uptick since pre-pandemic: Report

Businesses are recognising the rising importance of improving customer experience as there has been an exponential surge in demand from jobseekers for call centre and remote customer service jobs since pre-pandemic, says a survey.

According to data from leading job site Indeed, there was an elevated demand for call centre and remote customer service jobs in the period from January 2020 - January 2021, with a sharp increase of 498.40 per cent in job postings and a tremendous increase in jobseeker interest.

The uptick was largely owing to the pandemic necessitating more virtual customer service representatives, an exponentially rising demand for quick-commerce platforms and the growth of the app economy.

Gig work also grew during this time frame owing to the emergence of work-from-home as a predominant model of work.

However, job trends over the past year reveal a moderate drop in both job postings (by 73.50 per cent) and jobseeker interest (by 64.50 per cent clicks per million) as the economy opens up and on-site jobs resume.

"Especially in a post pandemic world, there is definitely a growing need for professionals who can manage customer interactions with empathy and efficiency, while also possessing the technical expertise to work with emerging technologies like AI and machine learning," said Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India.

"It is also heartening to see that the country is a preferred destination for call centres and customer support outsourcing due to its large pool of skilled workers, lower operating costs, and proficiency in English," Kumar added.

Bangalore leads job postings in this segment by a large margin, contributing to 19.14 per cent of total jobs. This is followed by Delhi (9.33 per cent), Mumbai (9.11 per cent), Chennai (8.33 per cent) and Hyderabad (6.31 per cent).