The rise of home-based call centre staff, or being
‘homeshoring’, as IDC labels it, is being fuelled by the need to
improve agent productivity. It also has the advantage of reducing
staff churn and arming companies with greater flexibility to
respond to peaks in demand.
"Over time, offshore outsourcing of customer care will be
associated more and more with its neglected sibling, homeshoring,"
says Stephen Loynd, senior analyst for IDC's CRM and Customer Care
BPO service.
"Ironically, outsourcing will therefore be associated not only with
the offshoring of US jobs, but also with the expansion of
employment opportunities in the US. Offshoring's underestimated
sibling, homeshoring, is about to hit a growth spurt."
By 2010, IDC estimates the numbers of US home agents will reach
300,000 compared to 112,000 today.
