New research published today by Deloitte & Ireland’s Customer Contact Management Association show that Ireland is an important global hub for customer service contact centres.
The survey was fielded to 60 multinational subsidiaries based in Ireland as well as a mix of Irish owned private & public companies.
The report shows that 92% of the 60 companies offer customer support to the Irish market. The UK was next highest with 52%, with Western Europe (37%), Eastern Europe (27%), US & Canada (22%), Africa (15%), Asia Pacific (17%) and Latin America (9%) also featuring.
The report also details 55% of respondents indicated they will increase the number of customer contact employee in the next two years.
Contact via phone remains the most frequently used platform, accounting for 48% of total customer contact volumes in 2015. Email (17%) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) (15%) were reported as the second and third most frequently used channels.
Webchat only currently account for 5% of contact volumes in 2015, however 50% of respondents plan to introduce the function in the next 12 months, showing a shift in consumer demands.
Partner, Human Capital, Consulting at Deloitte, Cormac Hughes, said; “These results highlight the important role customer contact centres in Ireland are playing in the Irish and the global markets today. With respondents expecting a decrease in outsourcing, the talent pool in Ireland will become increasingly important as the sector grows.”
“The shift in customer demands when it comes to customer services will require the need for additional technical skills. The growth of the global market for Irish customer contact centres will continue to demand high language skills from talent in Ireland. As many organisations compete for talent within the same pool in locations such as Dublin and Cork, companies need to start looking beyond these areas for the right people to fill the roles.” He added.
Source: www.businessworld.ie