Agent Recruitment Planning in Knowledge-Intensive Call Centers
- 1 May 2004
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Service Research
- Vol. 6 (4), 309-323
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670503262945
Abstract
The key ingredient in a call center’s operational efficiency is labor. Agent turnover remains a major concern for call centers. The top three reasons for turnover are low salary, lack of career path, and burnout. On average, it costs about $10 to a call center for each call, and the cost to bring on a new agent is more than $6,000. The author treats call centers as knowledge-intensive operations that are characterized by extensive knowledge required for each agent, combines control theory and chance-constrained programming in a model for workforce planning that allows for agent learning, and derives steady state workforce levels for different knowledge groups within the call center to minimize total labor-related costs. The objective is to meet stochastic demands with a desired service level. The author applies his model to an actual call center situation in the high-tech industry with adjusted data and discusses the managerial implications.Keywords
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