The number of people working in customer service roles in Britain has more than tripled over the past eight years, but their wages remained significantly below the national average, according to a study from Institute of Customer Service.
Given the report, the workforce in the customer service sector has now grown to 328,000 from 98,000 in 2002. That means, nearly 1.5 percent of adult employees in the UK are working for this sector.
The study, jointly conducted with Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), however, finds the sector undervalued in terms of salaries paid to employees.
Average earnings were just $22, 875 USD in 2010, not far above the national minimum wage of $18,977 USD and significantly below the national average wage of $34,723 USD.
The findings also show that the total UK wages for those employed in customer services rose from £1.2 billion in 2002 to £4.9 billion in 2010. According to projections by the Institute of Customer Service and Cebr, this is forecast to rise to £6 billion by 2015.
Jo Causon, Chief Executive of the Institute of Customer Service, said, “The rise in prominence of customer service over the past decade is not surprising given that almost 77 percent of the UK’s GDP is now service related.”
“However, total wages in the sector do not reflect the importance of customer service to the UK economy.”
The Institute has called upon companies to recognize customer service as a true profession.
“With rising youth unemployment, and few jobs available to this year’s raft of fresh graduates, companies should highlight the opportunities for professional development and lifelong career options in customer service, to attract young talent into this fast-growing industry,” Causon added.