ARM and BPO Work Driving Call Center Expansions

Unlike other sectors of the economy, the call center labor market is booming. Driven by demand for business process outsourcing (BPO) and accounts receivable management (ARM) services, call centers added more jobs in June than in recent memory.

Site Selection Group, LLC, an advisory firm that focuses on call center and back office site selection across the world, reported a sharp increase in hiring for the industry in June.

According to the company’s research, 20,485 new jobs were created at 48 call center facilities worldwide. Of these new jobs, 56 percent were located in the United States and 35 percent in the Philippines.

Site Selection Group’s President King White told insideARM, “This is probably the strongest month we’ve had in 12 to 18 months. We had huge numbers, 20,000 total jobs created, which is what it was during the peak of the economy two years ago.”

The BPO industry led the way with 15,560 jobs created and the financial services industry added 1,400 jobs.

Call centers in the debt collection industry increased by 1,115 new seats in June.

Debt collection call centers adding jobs included:

• Achieve CCA -- opened a 190 seat call center in Louisville, KY
• IQOR -- expanded its Buffalo, NY-based center by 50 seats
• Stellar Recovery -- expanded its Kalispell, MT-based call center by 80 seats 
• Zevas -- opened a 400 seat Wilkes-Barre, PA-based call center and expanded its Ireland-based call center by 45 seats
• NCO Group -- expanded its  Lenexa, KS-based call center by 725 and opened a 650 seat call center in the Philippines
  

Call centers in the BPO industry included:

• Transcom -- opened a 2,000 seat call center in the Philippines
• Stream -- opened a 1,400 seat call center in the Philippines 
• Vangent -- opened a 1,000 seat call center in Tampa, FL
• PATNI -- opened a  300 seat call center in Latin America
• Sitel -- expanded its Home Agents call center by 200 seats 
• Capgemini -- opened a new call center in Eastern Europe 
• Firstsource  -- expanded its Co. Springs, CO call center by 150 seats