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Pay rising in the contact centre industry

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:30

Flourishing contact centre industry pay on the rise Kelly's 2008/9 contact centre salary survey released.

The Contact Centre Industry in South Africa has matured to such an extent that not only does it hold its own in the global market, it also offers South Africans exciting and dynamic career choices.

Growth in the contact centre industry has been so phenomenal that Kelly conducted its annual Contact Centre Survey to reveal the trends and salary opportunities across predominantly three specialised industries: Banking, Information Technology and Telecommunications.

The Contact Centre Industry follows the tried and tested formula of Kelly’s annual salary survey, in which each year Kelly aggregates the salaries for a number of key job categories across selected areas.

The inaugural Contact Centre Survey results for 2008/9, released November 2008, reveal that overall, Gauteng salaries within the industry are higher than in Cape Town and KwaZulu Natal. “South Africa boasts an intrinsic quality in potential agents that makes us competitive globally,” explains Kelly’s Director: Strategic Business Solutions Diane Capazorio. “The 2008/9 survey findings reveal that talent in this growing industry is well rewarded in the higher job categories, with expertise being recognised and rewarded the higher up the ladder the talent climbs. We also need to bear in mind that this year inflation has come in significantly higher than expected which could have a bearing on these results.”

Entry Level staff, defined as those who conduct inbound and/or outbound calls, and respond to, or communicate with customers on a variety of products and services, start with a salary of R3,000 in Gauteng, ahead of Cape Town’s R2,600 and KwaZulu Natal’s R2,500.

The earning range for this category across all regions is narrow.

In Gauteng top earners can receive up to R4,100. Cape Town’s upper bounds are R3,800 while in KwaZulu Natal it is R3,600.

Inbound Agents – those agents who facilitate inbound calls by providing expert response to complex customer enquiries, and who therefore need to have product knowledge and customer service experience - command far higher salaries.

Gauteng, Cape Town and KwaZulu Natal start with a salary of are R4,500, R4,200 and R3,300 respectively.

Outbound Agents differ from Inbound in that they initiate specialised contact with targeted and/or selected customers to facilitate specific outcomes or indicators.

Perhaps reflecting the more proactive effort required in this role, salaries are higher than for Inbound Agents.

Category top earners in Gauteng can earn up to R16,000, followed closely by Cape Town on R15,500 and KwaZulu Natal on R15,000 while lower end salaries range from R4,200 in KwaZulu Natal to R4,600 in Gauteng.

Average salaries for IT Support staff, whose role it is to facilitate inbound and outbound calls from first level support by providing expert assistance to complex IT enquiries/issues, are similar to those of Outbound Agents.

Upper earnings are lower than for Outbound Agents, however, at R14,000 in Gauteng, R13,800 in Cape Town and R13,500 in KwaZulu Natal.

Starting salaries in this role are higher than for the Inbound and Outbound Agents, with Gauteng IT Support staff looking to start on R6,000, those in Cape Town on R5,800 and in Durban R5,500.

Opportunities for staff in an Administrative Support role to greatly increase earnings are limited.

Top earners command R7,500 in Gauteng, R6,800 in Cape Town and R5,500 in KwaZulu Natal.

A Team Leaders function is to manage the day-to-day planning, operation and problem-solving of a team of agents to meet with the required service level components, standards and sales targets.

Top Team Leaders can look to earn R15,200 in Gauteng, R15,000 in Cape Town and R13,500 in KwaZulu Natal.

In something of a trend reversal, entry level team leaders in KwaZulu Natal, at R6,200, earn more than in Gauteng (R5,800) and Cape Town (R5,500).

Trainers deliver training interventions to improve specific areas and overall performance of agents.

Top Trainers can earn up to R16,000 in Gauteng and Cape Town, and around R15,400 in KwaZulu Natal.

Entry level trainers start at anything between R7,200 and R8,000.

Among the top earners in this industry are Schedulers, whose role it is to monitor the call and skill set volumes that impact service levels and allocate the available resources accordingly.

Schedulers in Gauteng have a healthy salary range earning between R13,000 and R32,000, with KwaZulu Natal and Cape Town just slightly behind earning between R11,000 and R29,000 and R12,000 and R30,500 respectively.

The role of Quality Assurer is to monitor call quality and conduct analytics for improving the level of service provided to customers.

The highest paid Quality Assurers earn R15,000 in Gauteng, R14,000 in Cape Town and R13,500 in KwaZulu Natal.

Senior Operational Directors nationwide earn, on an annual basis, around R1,025,000, with the range being between R750,000 and R1,300,000.

Call Centre Managers earn slightly less than half this amount. Nationally the average is R490,000 with the range between R360,000 and R670,000 per annum.

“Kelly is committed to driving up the return on investment in a business’s greatest asset – people. The Contact Centre Salary Survey 2008/9 aims to be of assistance to not only our clients, but employers all over South Africa. The survey reflects the ongoing challenge to secure skills in a talent short market and, of more significance to our talent, the willingness to pay a higher rate to fill certain positions”, Capazorio concludes.