Contact Center sector grows 1.63% in Spain

The contact center sector continues to grow throughout the world, and also in Spain is proving to enjoy good health, as evidenced by the annual report prepared by the Spanish Contact Center Association (ACE), which reflects a 1.63% growth during the year 2016 to reach 1,723.96 million euros.

Customer service as key to growth of contact center sector

According to the results of this report, the greatest growth has been experienced in the utilities and insurance sectors, followed by technology, consulting, health and food. Only the telecommunications sector has experienced a slight decline.

As far as services are concerned, customer service accounts for 50% of the total services demanded by companies, while sales, back office and technical support services rank second, third and fourth respectively. This importance of customer service means that the quality of service continues to be one of the foundations in companies. In fact, almost 86% of them enjoy a quality certificate, while investment in technological improvements, especially in those related to multichannel, has increased by 20% over the previous year.

More jobs, more qualified and of better quality

During 2016, the number of platforms in Spain grew by 5% over the previous year, reaching a total of 105 contact center bases (57% of which are concentrated in Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia), which generated 50,363 jobs. Out of Spain, Colombia concentrates 56% of platforms, followed by Peru with 30%, Chile (7%), Morocco (4%) and Portugal (3%).

There has also been an improvement in the professional qualification of workers. By the end of 2016, 32.87% had a university degree, 51.1% had completed secondary education and only 16% had remained in their primary studies. In addition, 8% of the agents already speak a second language.

As for the distribution by sex and age, women account for 72% of the new employment generated in contact centers in Spain, and of them, the age range between 26 and 45 years becomes especially important.

In general, by the end of 2016 contact center employment had grown by 3.5% for the associated companies in ACE, a growth that is also experienced in terms of quality, since the indefinite contracts have grown by 7% reaching the 44.24% of the total.