Call Centre Salary Rises

June 12 2003 - Pay rises in Call centres will not exceed 3.25% this year according to human resource specialist, Hallis. And employers will remain competitive in the job market by keeping pay rises in line with inflation - despite forecasts to the contrary.

On the basis of the firm's 5th annual survey of the industry, Hallis's chief psychologist, Stephen Walton believes that salaries will be determined by the CPI (consumer price index) over the year ahead and not the contracting employment market or employee turnover featured lately in the media.

"Taken together these two statements may be confusing to contact center managers because they attribute potential pay rises to two very different factors" says Walton, adding, "Trying to budget a rate of salary increase that is appropriate to market conditions has always been a difficult task. There are a number of factors that have been influential but up until now an absence of historical data has deprived managers of any useful insight into factors associated with pay rises within the industry."

"Five consecutive years of tracking Contact Center growth, employee turnover and changes in salary has now, however, allowed Hallis to shed some light on the subject. And what has become apparent is that the CPI is the most consistent factor associated with changes in Call Center agents salaries for the past five years which, for the industry as a whole, have never averaged more than 1% more than the rate of inflation."

Walton points out that, "Even last year with relatively high levels of growth in the Contact Centre Industry within a contracting labour market which many thought would drive salaries upwards, the increase call center agents salaries, which account for close to 80% of the industry's salary costs, merely kept pace with the rate of inflation."

According to Walton there will be a few exceptions where certain jobs in specific areas teamed with job market pressures will combine to force salaries upwards. For example, the skills and experience of advanced level agents whose are now worth more in Sydney.

Call centre employees whose salaries are being negotiated through collective bargaining and registered enterprise agreements may also benefit more than the average. The Hallis survey shows that such arrangements have delivered salary outcomes up to an average of 6% greater than the base salary achieved through individuals negotiating directly with their employer.