Raphael Bohne
Research expert covering professional services
Call center services industry in the U.S. - statistics & facts
The call center has recently been showing signs of ceasing to exist in the not-too-distant future. The number of call centers opened or expanded from 2016 to 2023 in the United States fell from 223 to just 26. Many other nations and regions have been following the same path. The share of workers working onsite versus hybrid or remote in the United States has remained firmly on the side of those either working with a hybrid model or totally remote. This has signified a torrid few years for the call center, and it is still yet to be seen how much of an impact AI chatbots and online services will have on an already struggling industry.
A mixed bag overall for the call center services industry in the United States. Although it is clear that employment figures have been dwindling, revenue has remained at high levels and has shown signs of significant growth. With automation playing an ever-increasing role within the industry, this could go some way in explaining decreasing employment combined with increasing profit margins.
United States as global competitor in a declining industry
Although the number of new call centers decreased dramatically in the United States over the last decade, the country has remained as one of the largest employers of call center and contact center workers. Whilst these figures remain high on a global scale, the employment statistics within the U.S. tell a different story. The number of jobs created in the call center industry in the United States from 2016 to 2023 dropped off significantly during this time period. Furthermore, the number of contact center employees in the United States shrank by 350,000 between 2014 and 2023. These figures would suggest an industry in decline as person-to-person customer service has continued to transition into the fully digitalized world.Leading service providers still generating huge turnovers
India-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has frequently been one of the leading call center service providers. During their fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, the revenue of Tata Consultancy Services Limited worldwide was approximately 29 billion U.S. dollars. Another major player in the industry has been the U.S.-headquartered Genpact. In early 2021, the company announced its acquisition of Enquero, and in that year the revenue of Genpact worldwide increased by around 400 million U.S. dollars compared to the previous fiscal year. Since 2006, the company revenue has increased exponentially and reached almost 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.A mixed bag overall for the call center services industry in the United States. Although it is clear that employment figures have been dwindling, revenue has remained at high levels and has shown signs of significant growth. With automation playing an ever-increasing role within the industry, this could go some way in explaining decreasing employment combined with increasing profit margins.
