More than three quarters (78%) have begun to use more temporary and contract workers but more than two thirds have managed to maintain the same number of staff as they had in 2008, while nearly half claimed their operations remain completely unaffected by the economic downturn.
Faraz Kahn, managing director of ProtoCall One, which carried out the survey, said: "A significant proportion of the contact-centre market is under intense pressure to control costs but there is little sign of despair despite the national headlines.
"The majority of firms are looking for greater flexibility through increasing use of contract and temporary workers or simply reducing overtime of permanent staff rather than offloading valuable people they know will be hard to come by as the market recovers."
