The Untapped Call Center Workforce: Older Workers and Individuals with Disabilities

There’s a reason why you and so many of your contact center contemporaries are finding it harder and harder to find and keep qualified agents. According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for agents will increase 25 percent from 2006 to 2016, but the number of workers age 25 through 54 is expected to rise only 2 percent over that same period. And if you’re thinking that you’ll overcome the shortage by focusing your recruiting strategy on young guns, think again; the pool of workers under 25 is projected to shrink almost 7 percent over the next several years.

With more and more contact centers competing for fewer and fewer human resources, managers need to look beyond conventional labor pools and recruiting methods. Centers that will achieve the most staffing success are those that effectively tap two groups in particular: 1) older workers (individuals 55 and older who either can’t afford to or simply don’t want to retire); and 2) workers with disabilities. As you will soon see, each of these labor pools is largely underemployed and ideally suited for careers in customer care. 

Most contact centers, however, have yet to tap into to these two very viable labor sources to help fortify their frontlines and tackle the imminent talent shortage – this according to the ICMI 2008 Contact Center Operations Report. Only about one in three respondents in that study indicated that they actively recruit older workers (34%) or workers with disabilities (35%) to serve as agents in their contact center. 

Let’s take a closer look at these two labor pools – what experts refer to as “The Untapped Workforce” – to uncover what so many centers are missing out on, as well as how best to find (as well as engage and retain) workers from both groups.

Contact centers that don’t start to actively recruit older workers might as well retire early, as this labor group stands to have a huge impact on the lasting success of most customer care organizations. The sheer demographics alone are dazzling. Older workers represent the fastest growing segment of the U.S. workforce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that while the rest of the working population will minimally expand through 2016, the workforce aged 55 – 64 is expected to grow 36.5 percent. But the most dramatic growth is projected for even older workers; the number of workers between the ages of 65 and 74 and those aged 75 and up are predicted to soar by more than 80 percent. By 2016, workers age 65 and over are expected to account for 6.1 percent of the total labor force, up sharply from 3.6 percent in 2006.

But sheer numbers alone are not why contact centers should be paying close attention to and striving to attract older workers. Generally speaking, these workers are ideally suited for customer care work because they grew up in an era where personalized service and organic, human interaction were the norm. Thus, many older workers embody the communication skills, patience and warmth that customers – regardless of age – crave when interacting with your organization. Just as importantly, older workers have a reputation for being loyal the organizations for which they work, and are less likely than Generations X, Y and the Millennials are to skip from job to job or company to company. Most importantly, research shows that older workers covet customer service work. A study by AARP, older workers expressed a strong preference to work in service-related positions, with “customer service representative” topping the list of jobs they’d like to have.

So, we are looking at a labor pool filled with potential high-performers who are fully engaged and could greatly reduce the high attrition rates that plague so many centers. You know, the kind of agents that most managers dream about having – and cloning.

Don’t just take researchers’ word for it or blindly embrace generalities; there are plenty of contact center professionals who actively recruit older workers, and are happy to share their experiences. 

“Many older people today need to work through retirement age – and are looking for interesting jobs – because they’ve found that the 401ks and such are not going to fully support them,” says Mary Berberich, customer service training coordinator with mobile X-ray company MobilexUSA in Horsham, Pa. “So, not only are there plenty of older workers to select from, we’ve found that our older workers are simply more reliable and dependable, and provide good customer service. Their performance is on par with younger agents, and their strong work ethic rubs off on many of the younger employees.”

Tracy Bradford, customer service supervisor for First Comp Insurance in Omaha, Neb., wholeheartedly agrees. “We find that our older agents miss fewer days and always arrive on time, this partly due to the fact that they don’t have young children at home, and partly due to the fact that older workers have been in the workforce for a long time and understand the value of having a good job – especially in the current economy. They have the mentality of “I’m here to do whatever you need,” and are very professional and empathetic with customers. They’ve always been excellent agents for us.” 

An Agent Recruitment Program for the Ages

Just because older workers are aplenty doesn’t mean that your contact center can simply put its recruiting process on autopilot to attract them. There will be many other organizations like yours gunning for such talent, thus you’ll need strategic recruiting and retention efforts to ensure that older workers will want to work for you. Here are some best practice tips from AARP:

•Analyze your market. Ask yourself questions like, “What are the differences between the mature worker segment and others?” “How do they prefer to communicate and receive messages?” What are the media habits of workers 55 and over?” 

•Realize that even within the mature worker segment, age matters. Never assume that the preferences or habits of 60 year-olds will be the same as those who are in their 70s or 80s

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•Identify their favorite social spaces, including virtual spaces. Focus on print and online publications that cater to the 50+ market segment. Look into social organizations like college alumni associations, churches, synagogues or veterans’ groups. Also check out listservs as well as blogs, job banks, and other online places that serve as popular gathering spots for mature, experienced workers. 

•Build relationships. Reach out to retirees who have the experience and skill sets your company desires. Market your business as an age-friendly workplace that values mature workers. To reach retirees, you may be better off targeting organizations they're affiliated with and communicating with them on a more personal level – something that’s not nearly as important to younger generations. 

•Implement a mature worker recruitment program. Create a team responsible for acquiring the expert knowledge on the mature worker market, sharing it with others in your organization, communicating with older workers and tracking results.

Flexible staffing options are also key to attracting – and retaining – qualified older workers, according to the National Older Worker Career Center (NOWCC), a nonprofit based in Arlington, Va., that provides national leadership to expand employment of older workers. As explained by NOWCC in a “best practice” fact sheet, “Striking a healthy work-life balance is extremely important to older workers. Studies have shown that companies that respond to this need by offering flexible work arrangements are better positioned to retain and recruit older workers.” Example of such research findings include: 

•In a Conference Board survey, nearly half of older workers said that more flexibility would prevent them from retiring 

•A Cornell study of "working retirees" found that the "most common reason for retiring but continuing to work after retirement is that respondents want a work schedule that allows them the flexibility to do other things."

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), people with disabilities represent the single largest and most diverse minority in the U.S., and are a major untapped source of qualified job candidates. Only about one-third of Americans with disabilities are employed; however, more than two-thirds of unemployed individuals with disabilities say they would like to work, according to a study by research firm Harris Interactive.

The reason why this labor pool remains relatively untapped, say disability experts, is that most employers are unaware of the range of this group’s skills and/or do not know how to identify individuals with disabilities as potential employees.

Hiring individuals with disabilities is not only the right thing to do from a social perspective; it’s a very smart thing to do from a business perspective. According to the DOL, employers enjoy numerous benefits when they hire workers with disabilities, namely:

•Reduced training and recruitment costs. People with disabilities have equal to or higher performance rates, and are less likely to resign and move onto another job. Also, many individuals with disabilities come to employers already well-trained, having honed their skills via one of the many nonprofit organizations aimed at increasing employment among this group.  

•Increased diversity in the workplace. Perhaps more than any other group of people, individuals with disabilities have the ability to adapt to different situations and circumstances. As employees, they add to the range of viewpoints businesses need to succeed. Businesses can enhance their competitive edge by taking steps to ensure that these individuals are integrated into their workforce – and customer base.

•Increased productivity in work groups/teams. People with disabilities motivate other employees. Managers often report that witnessing how peers with disabilities deal with adversity and overcome challenges inspires employees and enhances overall productivity and morale.

•Tax credits. Companies can take advantage of several tax credits that encourage the hiring, retention, and accommodation of workers with disabilities. Examples include the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which allows employers tax credits of up to $2,400 for each person with a disability hired; the Architectural/ Transportation Tax Deduction, which allows businesses an annual deduction of up to $15,000 for expenses incurred to remove physical, structural, and transportation barriers for persons with disabilities at the workplace; and the Small Business Tax Credit, which helps small businesses cover the cost of making their businesses accessible to people with disabilities, up to a maximum benefit of $5,000.

Tim Cook, vice president of North American Operations for Hilton Reservations & Customer Care, can personally attest to the aforementioned benefits. Hilton actively recruits individuals with disabilities to fill agent positions in its various U.S. contact centers, and has several that have been handling customer calls for the company for over 10 years. Cook says that tapping this labor pool represents a true win-win scenario.

“We have found that agents with disabilities tend to be very loyal and stay with you for a long time if you provide them with a good job. We provide them with a rewarding working experience, and they provide us with years and years of excellent customer service.”

Debunking the “Costly Accommodation” Myth

When the topic of hiring individuals with disabilities arises, many well-meaning employers get nervous about what they feel will be expensive accommodation and equipment requirements. Such concerns, however, are unfounded. More than half of ADA (American Disability Act)-required accommodations – including adjusting workstations, revamping doorways and implementing assistive office equipment – cost employers absolutely nothing, and another 30 percent cost less than $500, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO).

“There really are not many extra costs at all,” says Hilton’s Cook. “While the special equipment – called JAWS* [Job Access with Speech] – that we need for our visually impaired agents is expensive, we get a break on it from the various state organizations we work with. Providing assistive technology for agents who are blind or who have other disabilities certainly does not break the bank. Cost should not be a deterrent to other organizations looking to hire people with disabilities.”  *JAWS uses what is known as a screen reader to convert letters and words. A speech synthesizer then converts that digital information into sound. Words appearing on the screen are then literally read aloud. An experienced JAWS user can access the same information available to sighted co-workers.

 Telecommuting a Viable Option for Agents with Disabilities

Conversations about contact center agents with disabilities would not be complete without a discussion about telecommuting. The home agent model is ideal for many workers with disabilities, particularly those whose disability severely hinders their mobility and/or ability to use private or public transportation. 

Hilton is working on offering its agents with disabilities the opportunity to work from home for this very reason. “Some of them have a real hassle getting in to work, even with the city providing special transportation,” explains Cook. “So we are currently working with an organization for the blind to adapt the assistive hardware to work with our work-at-home model.”   

 

While some contact centers do their own recruiting, hiring and set-up of home agents with disabilities, many prefer to contract with one of several reputable virtual outsourcing firms – customer care outsourcers that have based their entire staffing strategy around telecommuting. Examples of such virtual outsourcers (a.k.a. homesourcers) include Arise Virtual Solutions, Alpine Access and Working Solutions. These companies employ a mix of home agents with disabilities and those without -- all trained to handle customer contacts for a variety of contact center clients.  

One truly unique organization, the National Telecommuting Institute (NTI -- www.nticentral.org), specializes in recruiting and training individuals with disabilities for work as home-based customer service agents. NTI recruits nationwide, and works with various federal, state and local agencies to help identify home agent candidates for client contact centers.  Employers of NTI's agents become eligible for the previously mentioned federal tax credit of $2,400 per agent. And because funding from government agencies subsidize NTI's recruiting costs, client centers either access NTI's services without charge or pay a very small mark-up if they elect a co-employment staffing arrangement. Among the organizations that have taken advantage of the NTI model are the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), AAA, and The Answer Group.  

 

M.J. Willard, executive director and founder of NTI, hopes that an increasing number of contact centers start to recognize what the aforementioned companies already know to be true – that tapping individuals with disabilities for home-based work simply makes good business sense." “We are the most cost-effective, high quality solution available with American workers."

    

Contact centers that take the time to recruit and retain “The Untapped Workforce” are way ahead of the staffing curve. While other centers continue to dip into the same shallow labor pools they have for years, more progressive organizations are busy filling workstations (and home offices) with highly qualified older agents and agents with disabilities; and, in doing so, they have brought about big improvements – not only to their center’s performance, but also to the lives of these oft-overlooked employees.     

  

How Do I Know If My Worksite Is Accessible? 

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The following strategies – recommended by the Department of Labor – can help employers obtain these benefits and ensure that individuals with disabilities are included in their recruiting efforts: 

•Creating partnerships with disability-related advocacy organizations 

•Contacting career centers at colleges and universities when vacancies arise 

•Posting job announcements in disability-related publications, Web sites and job fairs 

In addition, a number of resources are available to help employers recruit individuals with disabilities: 

Employer Assistance and Recruiting Network (EARN)

Employee Assistance and Recruiting Network (EARN), a national toll-free telephone and electronic information referral service, became available to the public March 2001, and is designed to assist employers in locating and recruiting qualified workers with disabilities. EARN, which is a service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy, can also provide technical assistance on general disability employment-related issues. EARN can be reached at 1-866- EARN NOW (327-6669) or via its website.

Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) 

Coordinated by the Office of Disability

Employment Policy (ODEP) and the U.S. Department of Defense, WRP helps employers identify qualified college students with disabilities (at no cost) for summer work experience and full-time employment. 1-202-693-7880 (V); 1-202-693-7881 (TTY) 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service

VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service helps employers across the country fill workforce needs with trained, educated and experienced disabled veterans. It provides recruitment assistance based on employers' specific qualification requirements, and candidates are skilled, committed workers who are pre-screened for specific employment opportunities. 

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR). State VR agencies help individuals with disabilities obtain and maintain employment. Thus, they also assist employers in identifying qualified, job-ready candidates with disabilities to fill their workforce needs. Each state has a designated person tasked with building and maintaining employer relationships. In addition to recruitment assistance, state VR agencies can provide services such as work evaluation and assessment for and provision of assistive technology and other workplace accommodations.

State Governors' Committees on Employment of People with Disabilities. Each state typically has a governor-appointed board, committee, commission or council that provides leadership to its efforts to improve employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Employers may contact these committees for information about state-specific resources available to help them recruit and retain qualified individuals with disabilities.

Disability Employment 101

A publication that addresses how to find qualified workers with disabilities and highlights what various businesses have done to successfully integrate individuals with disabilities into the workforce. 

National Telecommuting Institute (NTI) 

Specializes in recruiting and training individuals with disabilities for work as home-based customer service agents. NTI recruits nationwide, and works with various federal, state and local agencies to help identify home agent candidates for client contact centers.  

Purple Heart Service Foundation

Has a unique job-training program called the Veterans Business Training Center (VBTC), a 15-week Internet-based training program for disabled and combat-wounded U.S. veterans. Currently, collaborating with Northern Virginia Community College, as well as state and federal agencies, graduates of the program are trained and qualified to work in a variety of Call Center capacities as virtual agents.