CHICAGO—The global contact center industry just experienced another year of strong growth, especially in the US, and 2018 promises more of the same. Furthermore, profound changes underway in the industry means many providers need more space and new locations, demands that may throw a lifeline to owners of vacant big box retail properties.
“It's one of the few existing kinds of real estate that offers eight parking spaces per 1,000 square feet,” Tadd Wisinski, managing director and contact centers group co-lead for JLL, tells GlobeSt.com. These businesses typically have huge workforces, and “you have to assume that a lot of the employees are going to drive.” Big box retail properties are wide open on the inside, another plus for contact center managers, he adds, as it eases their ability to keep tabs on the many workers typically on site. And with so much industry expansion underway, providers frequently need a lot of space in a particular area fast, making existing retail spaces the ideal solution.
The only possible downside for landlords is that contact centers can't pay the same rental rates as big retailers. But with online shopping undermining brick-and-mortar outlets, while simultaneously boosting the need for contact centers, having the latter group fill all those empty stores could make a lot of sense.
Contact centers, however, are also rethinking their real estate needs due to other recent changes in the industry, Wisinski says. Its buildings “used to be just call centers,” but that term has been discarded by many. Millions of people around the globe have adopted smart devices as main tools of communication, and contact center employees now use live chats, emails, tweets, and other social media to interact with customers. “The skill set is becoming more complex,” and things like proper grammar have become more important than ever.
As a result, contact centers now seek out better-educated workers. “The contact center industry is growing faster in the US than in the rest of the world, and we think that is the reason,” Wisinski says. And even within the US, many firms have decided to migrate from rural or tertiary regions into major metro areas, which have far denser concentrations of highly-educated workers. A technologically-sophisticated workforce will also help contact centers prepare for the long-term. “As the next wave of change hits the industry, they'll be better able to react.”
Recently, for example, blockchain and robotic automation have disrupted the business. But rather than force contact centers to shrink their footprints, facilities using such technologies need roughly the same numbers of people, Wisinski says. In fact, these developments only reinforce the need for a more highly-educated workforce.
All of these factors should keep the industry growing in the US at a healthy clip. Kyle Harding, executive vice president and contact centers group co-lead, estimates growth will stay between 3% to 5% each year, “and there is historical data to back this up.” Last year, JLL said the industry had grown 22% in the previous five years. “I don't expect it to slow down.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
