C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0

CALL CENTER
LOCATION
TREND REPORT
2020

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C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0The call center industry had
stable growth in 2019 ascompanies pursued theoptimal balance of labor
availability, labor costs,
geopolitical stability andbusiness climate. The CallCenter Location Trend
Report provides an analysisof global location trends tohelp you understand theonshore, near- shore andoffshore geographies thatmight be the best location
for your next call center.

CALL CENTER
LOCATION TRENDREPORT 2020
Introduction
As companies seek to find the optimal location for their callcenter operations, understanding historic growth trends canhelp to develop onshore, nearshore and offshore location
strategies. In 2019, Site Selection Group identified 285 new andexpanding call center projects that created 133,202 jobs as well
as 88 call center projects involving 17,014 jobs that weredownsizing or closing their facilities. By analyzing this data, SiteSelection Group has identified regional location trends that aresummarized in this report.

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C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0# OF JOBS CREATED

Global Call CenterIndustry GrowthContinues Across
All Regions
The call center industry continues to shift jobs toand from onshore, nearshore and offshore
geographies. With the current trend of onshoringtaking center stage, the United States led overall
growth with 164 projects announced with
133,202 jobs which was an increase over 2018
due to solid economic conditions, corporate
reshoring initiatives, and focus on the customer
experience. The Philippines led in job creationin the offshore region with 28 projects creating
44,130 jobs. Nearshore destinations in Latin
America and the Caribbean had solid growthby creating 14,580 jobs with 29 announced
projects. The following pie charts summarize
the growth of call centers across the world:

1,158
Africa

1,475

1,400

Asia- Pacific

1,200

CanadaE. Europe

3,150
India

7,509

W. Europe

14,580LACA

25133,202

58,575

Middle EastJOBSUSA

44,130Philipines# OF SITES OPENED OR EXPANDED
8Africa

9Asia-Pacific275Canada

7E. Europe

W. Europe

6India

29

LACA

285

SITES

2Middle East

28Phillippines

164

United States

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C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0# OF JOBS CREATED

6,173

U.S. Call Center GrowthRemained Stable andCreated Almost 60,000 Jobs
The demand for quality customer service andtrend of onshore call center expansion in theUnited States continued during 2019. As inyears past, many companies reshored operations
from the Philippines, India and other offshore
markets as they sought to improve quality levels
despite higher costs. There were an estimated164 call centers opened or expanded thatcreated 58,575 jobs in the United States. This
domestic growth has caused many labormarkets to become tighter and put wage
pressure on employers. The Southeast, Southwest,and Midwest regions of the U.S. accounted forthe majority of the growth generally due tomore attractive labor conditions, lower operating
costs and availability of economic incentives.
The following pie charts provide a summary ofexpansion data within the United States.

West

11,263Midwest17,14958,575

2,766

JOBS

Midwest

Northeast

18,224Southeast# OF SITES OPENED OR EXPANDED
18

Northeast

36

Midwest34

Southwest

164

SITES

59

Southeast

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16

Northeast

C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 04

# OF JOBS LOST
615

The Closure andDownsizing of Call Centers
Continues to Slow Across
The United States
Despite the expanding economy and continued
reshoring initiatives, the United States continues
to see call center operations close and downsize
for a variety of reasons. The total job loss in thecall center industry in the United States wasapproximately 12,682 jobs. Since 58,575 jobs
were added in openings and expansions, theUnited States had an estimated net gain of45,893 jobs in this region in 2019. The followingcharts provide a summary of contraction data
within the United States.

130

Asia-Pacific

1,497

Australia

1,820

W. EuropeCanada

270

LACA

12,682
JOBS

12,682

United States# OF SITES CLOSED OR DOWNSIZED74

Asia-Pacific

W. Europe

1

Australia

9Canada

3LACA

64

SITES

64

USA8235 Douglas Ave., Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75225 | (866) 938-SITE | siteselectiongroup.com

C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0Top 20 U.S. Call Center
Project Announcements
To help understand what companies are expanding in the United States, Site Selection Group has
identified the top 20 largest announcements in the table below.
LARGEST UNITED STATES CALL CENTER PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENTS OF 2019
Company# of Jobs

Location

TypeProgressive Insurance

2,000

Cleveland, OH

Expansion

Progressive Insurance

1,500

Tampa, FL

Expansion

Allstate

1,300

Irving, TX

New Site

DXC Technologies

1,200Conway, AR

Expansion

TaskUs

1,200

San Antonio, TX

New SiteTeleperformance

1,124

El Paso, TX

New Site

Progressive Insurance

1,100

Colorado Springs, COExpansion

Brex

1,000

Salt Lake City, UTNew Site

Chime Solutions

1,000

Charlotte, NC

New Site

Chime Solutions

1,000

Dallas, TX

New SiteMacy's

1,000

Clearwater, FLExpansion

Progressive Insurance

1,000

Austin, TX

Expansion

T-Mobile

1,000

Kingsburg, CA

New Site

T-Mobile

1,000

Overland Park, KS

New Site

T-Mobile

1,000

Rochester, NY

New Site

Alorica

900

San Antonio, TX

Expansion

Faneuil Inc.

700

Albuquerque, NM

New Site

Global CallCenter Solutions

600

Columbus, GA

New Site

Pentagon Federal Credit Union

600

San Antonio, TX

New Site

Wayfair

600

Springfield, OR

New SitePNC Bank560

New Braunfels, TX

New Site

Ford Motor Co500

Houston, TX

New Site

Intuit500

Bluefield, WV

New Site

Wayfair

500

Athens, GA

New Site

Wayfair500

Lansing, MINew Site

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C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0

Nearshore Latin America Region Continues To Grow Due
To Low Cost Structure, Accessibility, Bilingual Skills And
Political Stability
Latin America continues to gain market share as probably one of the hottest regions. Most projects stemfrom the need to consolidate pan-Latin America operations or serve customers in high-cost locations suchas the United States. Within the Latin America and Caribbean region, Columbia and Jamaica were real
hotspots with significant growth. Costa Rica surprisingly re-emerged as a hot destination due to its
availability of “quality talent” despite higher costs. Mexico was also an extremely popular geography as
low currency valuations and proximity to the United States have made it very attractive.

Top 20 Nearshore Call Center Project Announcements
To help understand what companies are expanding in these offshore and onshore destinations, Site
Selection Group has identified the top 20 largest announcements in the table below.

LARGEST NEARSHORE CALL CENTER PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENTS OF 2019
Company# of Jobs

Location

Typeon2,000

Costa Rica

Expansion

Conduent

2,000

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Expansion

ERC

1,000

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

New SiteStartek

1,000

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

New Site

Sykes

1,000

Costa Rica

Expansion

Teleperformance

850

Montego Bay, Jamaica

New Site

KM2 Solutions

800

Bogota, Columbia

New SiteTransparent BPO

700

Belmonpan, Belize

New Site

Global Telesourcing

550

Monterrey, Mexico

Expansion

24-7 InTouch

500

Bogota, Columbia

New Site

NK Customer Solutions

500

Jamaica

New

Transparent BPO

465

BelizeNew SiteRoche

400

San Jose, Costa Rica

New SiteBill Gossling

300

Costa Rica

New Site

Bayer

215

San Jose, Costa Rica

Expansion

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C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0

The Philippines Dominates Offshore Growth But PossiblySlowing
The Philippines continues to dominate offshore industry growth due to successfully attracting both captive
and BPO call center projects as well as higher-end projects such as software development, shared service
centers and other knowledge-based operations. However, the growth of these back-office operations in
the Philippines is creating new challenges for companies as they fight for talent which is causing higher
employee attrition and wage inflation. In addition, the on-going political concerns, PEZA economic
incentive program modifications and growth of the Chinese sports betting industry are creating headwindsthat could slow down growth in the Philippines.

Top 25 Offshore Call Center Project Announcements
To help understand what companies are expanding in these offshore and onshore destinations, Site
Selection Group has identified the top 25 largest announcements in the table below
LARGEST OFFSHORE CALL CENTER PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENTS OF 2019
City, State/Country

TypeAlorica

Company# of Jobs
9,000

Philippines

Expansion

iQor

5,000

Philippines

Expansion

Telus International

5,000

Quezon City, Philippines

New Site

Dito Telecommunity Corp

4,000

Clark, Philippines

New SiteAmazon3,200

Philippines

New Site

VXI

2,000

Quezon City, Philippines

New Site

Sitel1,500

Tarlac, Philippines

New Site

BasicFirst

1,400

Randhi, India

New Site

ARB Call Facilities

1,000

Alabang, Philippines

New Site

ARB Call Facilities

1,000

Bacolad City, Philippines

New Site

Global Health Care Billing Partners

1,000

India

New Site

Ibex

1,000

Alabang, Philippines

New Site

Ibex

1,000

Bohol, Philippines

New Site

Ibex

1,000

Quezon City, Philippines

New Site

Open Access BPO

1,000

Makati, Philippines

New Site

PayPal1,000

Alabang, Philippines

New SiteTranscom

1,000

Manila, Philippines

New Site

VXI

1,000

Davao, Philippines

New Site

Telus International

800

Taguig, Philippines

New Site

Inspiro750Quezon City, Philippines

New Site

Essilor

500

Alabang, Philippines

New Site

Infosys500

Alabang, Philippines

New Site

TaskUs500

Indore, India

New Site

Teledirect

500

Cebu, Philippines

New Site

Uber500

Clark, Philippines

New Site

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C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0

Business Process
Outsourcing, Financial
Services andTelecommunications
Sectors Lead The Call
Center Industry’s Growth
The call center sector’s growth has been fueledby growth industries such as business process
outsourcing (BPO), financial services andtelecommunications. Other industries such asretail/e-commerce, healthcare and technology
are also contributing to the industry’s growth.
The BPO sector had the greatest market activity
with 83,260 jobs announced during 2019. TheBPO sector was followed by telecommunications(13,240 jobs), financial services (12,608), retail/e-commerce (7,120 jobs), healthcare (4,523jobs), and technology (4,300 jobs). The following
chart provides a summary of the industry’s
growth trends.

Jobs

Projects

Automotive

2,005

7

BPO

83,260132

Collections

1,026

7

Financial Services

12,60831

Government

845

4

Healthcare

5,443

18

Legal

100

1Market Research

300

3Other2,000

12Pharmaceuticals

215

1Retail

7,120

15Technology

4,300

13

Telecommunications

13,24035

Transportation

300

2

Travel240

2Utilities

200

2133,202

285

Grand Total

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C A L L C E N T E R LO C AT I O N T R E N D R E P O R T - 2 0 2 0ConclusionsFinding the optimal location for expansion continues to be acomplicated question and requires extensive analysis tofigure out the right answer. Based on the analysis conductedby Site Selection Group, it is clear that the United States, thePhilippines and Latin America have been established as thedominate geographies for an onshore, nearshore andoffshore global footprint for U.S.-based companies; however,Eastern Europe and to some extent, Africa, continue to servea role for companies needing additional languages or otherskill sets beyond voice-related call center operations. To helpyou develop a call center location strategy aligned to yourgoals and objectives, contact one of our global call centersite selection experts to find the optimal location for you.

8235 Douglas Ave., Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75225 | (866) 938-SITE | siteselectiongroup.com

8235 Douglas Ave., Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75225(866) 938-SITE | siteselectiongroup.com