jobfacts

Call and contact centre occupations

SOC 2020 7211

Call and contact centre occupations receive and respond to telephone calls from potential clients and existing customers regarding the products and services offered by an organisation.

Also calledCall centre handlerServiceline response operatorCustomer adviserPersonal lines clerkCall centre associateCustomer management adviserand 43 more titles
Typical full-time pay£27,0002025 Provisional
People in the job82,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month870↓ 8%on last year · 205th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time call and contact centre occupations earn between £24,300 and £32,500 a year.

What full-time call and contact centre occupations earn, 2025
£27,000 typical£21,900lowest 10%£24,30025%£34,600top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£24,300–£32,500)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£21,900
Lowest 20% earn less than£23,800
25%£24,300
Median£27,000
75%£32,500
Top 20% earn more than£34,600
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £27,000
South West!£28,900
East Midlands!£28,800
London!£28,300
East of England!£28,000
Scotland!£27,100
South East!£27,000
North West!£26,400
North East!£26,400
Yorkshire and The Humber£26,300
West Midlands!£26,300
Wales!£26,300
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £27,000
South West£28,900 (small sample)
East Midlands£28,800 (small sample)
London£28,300 (small sample)
East of England£28,000 (small sample)
Scotland£27,100 (small sample)
South East£27,000 (small sample)
North West£26,400 (small sample)
North East£26,400 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£26,300
West Midlands£26,300 (small sample)
Wales£26,300 (small sample)
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £24,300
  • 2024 £24,800
  • 2025 Provisional£27,000
↑ 11% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 870 jobs for call and contact centre occupations are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026888
Jul 2026840
Jun 2026835
May 20261,002
Apr 2026761
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026768
Jan 20261,006
Dec 2025510
Nov 2025977
Oct 20251,004
Sept 2025981
Aug 2025884
Jul 2025976
Jun 2025954
May 20251,036
Apr 2025924
Mar 2025977
Feb 2025961
Jan 20251,207
Dec 2024611
Nov 2024809
Oct 2024990
Sept 20241,058
Aug 20241,187
Jul 20241,336
Jun 20241,226
May 20241,187
Apr 20241,147
Mar 2024968
Feb 2024936
Jan 20241,087
Dec 2023784
Nov 2023904
Oct 2023935
Sept 2023904
Aug 20231,184
Jul 20231,288
Jun 20231,632
May 20231,658
Apr 20231,445
Mar 20231,603
Feb 20231,745
Jan 20231,845
Dec 20221,561
Nov 20221,897
Oct 20221,968
Sept 20221,931
Aug 20222,072
Jul 20222,144
Jun 20222,137
May 20222,267
Apr 20221,809
Mar 20222,420
Feb 20222,035
Jan 20222,445
Dec 20211,959
Nov 20212,192
Oct 20212,373
Sept 20212,340
Aug 20212,117
Jul 20212,123
Jun 20211,797
May 20211,789
Apr 20211,207
Mar 20211,683
Feb 2021956
Jan 20211,034
Dec 20201,084
Nov 20201,200
Oct 20201,190
Sept 20201,091
Aug 2020961
Jul 2020846
Jun 2020655
May 2020607
Apr 2020786
Mar 20201,481
Feb 20201,830
Jan 20201,572
Dec 20191,223
Nov 20191,488
Oct 20191,611
Sept 20191,496
Aug 20191,696
Jul 20191,815
Jun 20191,627
May 20191,613
Apr 20191,267
Mar 20191,476
Feb 20191,364
Jan 20191,620
Dec 20181,163
Nov 20181,506
Oct 20181,738
Sept 20181,769
Aug 20181,602
Jul 20181,457
Jun 20181,617
May 20181,503
Apr 20181,427
Mar 20181,445
Feb 20181,508
Jan 20181,817
Dec 20171,124
Nov 20171,598
Oct 20171,825
Sept 20171,946
Aug 20171,870
Jul 20171,670
Jun 20171,783
May 20172,264
Apr 20172,146
Mar 20172,585
Feb 20171,901
Jan 20172,736
Is there a shortage of call and contact centre occupations?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthWell above usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
14%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for customer service occupations, which includes call and contact centre occupations. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London403
Manchester97
Glasgow City60
Leeds59
Birmingham53
Bristol, City of46
Newcastle upon Tyne40
Liverpool30
Cardiff29
Norwich29
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where call and contact centre occupations are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of call and contact centre occupations
20%!
29%
24%!
13%!
13%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–2420% (small sample)
25–3429%
35–4424% (small sample)
45–5413% (small sample)
55–6413% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent28%
Higher education below degree!4.3%
A levels or equivalent26%
GCSEs or equivalent32%
Other qualifications!7%
No qualifications!1.3%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent28%
Higher education below degree4.3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent26%
GCSEs or equivalent32%
Other qualifications7% (small sample)
No qualifications1.3% (small sample)

Main employers: activities of call centres (9.7%), general public administration activities (7.4%), wireless telecommunications activities (5.9%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (5%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
28%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
GCSEs or equivalent
held by 32%
Apprenticeships
1
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
1 year
typically

Apprenticeships

1 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • answers incoming telephone calls from existing or prospective customers
  • interviews caller to establish the nature of any complaint or the requirements of the client
  • informs existing and potential customers on any immediate action to be taken, and refers the matter to a more senior member of staff if necessary
  • advises on services available and sells additional products or services
  • maintains details of calls received, the action taken as a result of a call and updates customer database as required
  • arranges for field staff to visit the caller if further assistance is required

Skills

  • answer incoming calls
  • collect customer data
  • communicate by telephone
  • communicate with customers
  • establish customer rapport
  • guarantee customer satisfaction
  • keep records of customer interaction
  • perform customer management
  • provide customer follow-up
  • analyse call performance trends
  • assist customers
  • carry out active selling
  • contact customers
  • discern written communication

Knowledge

  • characteristics of products
  • characteristics of services
  • customer insight
  • customer service
  • call-centre technologies
  • customer relationship management

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Leading and persuading

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for customer service occupations, a group of 6 jobs that includes call and contact centre occupations.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 47%about 285,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035648,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.