Call center shrinkage is the difference between the time you pay agents to attend to customers versus the actual time they spend attending customers.
You can also define it as:
The factors that contribute to call center shrinkage are broadly categorized as external and internal shrinkage factors.
External factors include tardiness, sick leaves, other holidays, and vacations. On the other hand, internal shrinkage factors are lunch breaks, training, meetings, calls, and other scheduled breaks.
There are two ways to calculate the call center shrinkage:
1. Number of Hours
Shrinkage = (Total Shrinkage Hours / Total Working Hours) * 100
For example, in a 40-hour workweek, an agent spends 12 hours on break, meetings, and other factors.
Then, call center shrinkage = (12/40) *100 = 30%
2. Number of Agents
Shrinkage = (Number of Agents Needed / Number of Agents Available) * 100
For example, let’s say you need 100 agents to handle the call volume over two hours, but only 80 are available.
Then, call center shrinkage = (100/80) * 100 = 125%
Here are some tips to help reduce call center shrinkage: