Sources
Where every number comes from.
Every number on this site comes from the list below. Some are forecasts, and some come from other countries. Where that matters, we say so.
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around 6,200
UK contact centres
ContactBabel UK Contact Centre Decision-Makers' Guide, via Ainora (2026) (opens in a new tab) · 2026
Secondary source; Ben may cite ContactBabel directly.
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770,000+
UK contact centre agent positions (in-house and outsourced)
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3.5% a year
Average annual fall in employment at UK call centre businesses, 2020–2025
IBISWorld (opens in a new tab) · 2025
Outsourced call centre businesses (SIC 82.20) only.
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about 2,000
Sky contact centre jobs at risk; Leeds, Sheffield and Stockport centres to close; calls expected to fall from ~25m to ~17m a year by 2029
CXM, citing the Financial Times (opens in a new tab) · March 2025
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about half
Share of current customer service jobs Forrester expects AI to cut by 2030
Forrester (May 2026), reported by HR Dive (opens in a new tab) · May 2026
Forecast; region not specified in coverage.
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13.5% / ~350,000
Forecast fall in US customer service representative jobs, 2025–2031
Forrester, reported by No Jitter (opens in a new tab) · 2026
US data.
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87%
Customers who say access to a human agent is essential when companies use AI for service
Gartner survey of 3,566 customers, Feb–Mar 2026 (opens in a new tab) · August 2026
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about 3×
Customers more likely to use third-party AI tools than a company's own chatbot in their most recent service interaction
Gartner, Aug 2026 (opens in a new tab) · August 2026
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58%
AI users who have used AI to complete a task on their behalf
Gartner, Aug 2026 (opens in a new tab) · August 2026
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97% / 35%
UK organisations reporting at least one AI skills gap / struggling to fill AI roles
DSIT AI Labour Market Survey 2025 (Gardiner & Theobald), published 28 Jan 2026 (opens in a new tab) · January 2026
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20%
Share of UK AI roles held by women (down 4 points since 2020)
DSIT AI Labour Market Survey 2025 (opens in a new tab) · January 2026
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73% / AI #1
UK employers struggling to find skilled talent; AI skills ranked hardest to find for the first time (19%)
ManpowerGroup UK Talent Shortage 2026 (opens in a new tab) · March 2026
The AI measure covers using AI in existing jobs, not only technical expertise.
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22%
Share of UK IT specialists who are women (2025)
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around £19,000
Typical UK call centre agent base pay
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£87,431
Median advertised salary, UK permanent jobs citing Genesys (senior/experienced roles)
IT Jobs Watch, 6 months to 18 Oct 2026 (15 salaries quoted) (opens in a new tab) · October 2026
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£30,614
Average cost to replace an employee, mostly lost productivity (~28 weeks to full productivity)
Oxford Economics, reported by HRreview (opens in a new tab) · 2014
Older study; always show the year.
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£751
Weekly pay cap for statutory redundancy pay in Great Britain from 6 April 2026 (was £719)
CIPP (opens in a new tab) · April 2026