jobfacts

Customer service occupations n.e.c.

SOC 2020 7219

Job holders in this unit group perform a variety of customer service occupations not elsewhere classified in minor group 721: Customer service occupations.

Also calledCustomer service assistantCustomer service adviserCall centre workerCustomer relations assistantPassport agentGuest relations executiveand 66 more titles
Typical full-time pay£27,8002025 Provisional
People in the job283,000across the UK
New adverts a month6,900↓ 10%on last year · 22nd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time customer service occupations n.e.c. earn between £24,600 and £33,100 a year.

What full-time customer service occupations n.e.c. earn, 2025
£27,800 typical£21,700lowest 10%£33,10075%£41,100top 10%
Middle half (£24,600–£33,100)
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£21,700
Lowest 20% earn less than£23,800
25%£24,600
Median£27,800
75%£33,100
Top 20% earn more than£35,100
Top 10% earn more than£41,100
Typical pay by regionUK median £27,800
London£30,800
East of England£29,700
South West£28,300
Scotland£28,100
South East£27,500
North West£27,100
Wales£27,000
East Midlands£26,700
North East£26,700
Yorkshire and The Humber£26,600
West Midlands£26,500
Show as table
UK median, £27,800
London£30,800
East of England£29,700
South West£28,300
Scotland£28,100
South East£27,500
North West£27,100
Wales£27,000
East Midlands£26,700
North East£26,700
Yorkshire and The Humber£26,600
West Midlands£26,500
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £24,900
  • 2024 £26,700
  • 2025 Provisional£27,800
↑ 12% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 6,900 jobs for customer service occupations n.e.c. are advertised each month.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20267,257
Jul 20267,147
Jun 20267,190
May 20267,166
Apr 20266,549
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20266,010
Jan 20267,417
Dec 20253,762
Nov 20257,220
Oct 20257,876
Sept 20257,890
Aug 20257,610
Jul 20257,840
Jun 20258,989
May 20259,231
Apr 20257,121
Mar 20257,906
Feb 20257,741
Jan 20257,343
Dec 20244,276
Nov 20246,772
Oct 20248,332
Sept 20248,616
Aug 20248,921
Jul 20249,422
Jun 20249,032
May 202410,262
Apr 20249,842
Mar 20247,847
Feb 20248,152
Jan 20249,753
Dec 20236,543
Nov 20237,883
Oct 20238,229
Sept 20238,549
Aug 202310,721
Jul 202310,863
Jun 202315,373
May 202314,747
Apr 202312,382
Mar 202314,083
Feb 202313,342
Jan 202315,246
Dec 202212,622
Nov 202216,541
Oct 202218,041
Sept 202217,962
Aug 202219,056
Jul 202219,151
Jun 202219,480
May 202220,111
Apr 202217,016
Mar 202220,329
Feb 202217,537
Jan 202221,884
Dec 202115,711
Nov 202117,949
Oct 202119,468
Sept 202118,773
Aug 202116,807
Jul 202116,563
Jun 202115,723
May 202114,745
Apr 202110,909
Mar 202114,699
Feb 20218,380
Jan 20217,557
Dec 20207,516
Nov 20207,823
Oct 202010,512
Sept 20208,837
Aug 20207,330
Jul 20206,821
Jun 20206,935
May 20204,008
Apr 20205,410
Mar 202011,084
Feb 202014,359
Jan 202012,768
Dec 201910,223
Nov 201913,058
Oct 201915,713
Sept 201914,015
Aug 201913,219
Jul 201916,129
Jun 201914,377
May 201914,646
Apr 201911,173
Mar 201912,746
Feb 201911,156
Jan 201913,988
Dec 20189,460
Nov 201813,498
Oct 201817,057
Sept 201817,070
Aug 201815,019
Jul 201813,126
Jun 201814,408
May 201814,811
Apr 201812,062
Mar 201813,007
Feb 201810,927
Jan 201813,286
Dec 20178,678
Nov 201712,353
Oct 201713,103
Sept 201713,367
Aug 201713,880
Jul 201712,847
Jun 201714,668
May 201714,829
Apr 201715,074
Mar 201718,172
Feb 201713,431
Jan 201719,193
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
14%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London2,016
Manchester446
Leeds389
Birmingham328
Glasgow City305
Bristol, City of267
Nottingham234
Liverpool228
City of Edinburgh223
Sheffield196
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where customer service occupations n.e.c. are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 53 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Brazil, Kazakhstan, France, ranking it 128th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of customer service occupations n.e.c.
24%
30%
18%
15%
10%
2.9%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–2424%
25–3430%
35–4418%
45–5415%
55–6410%
65+2.9% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent29%
Higher education below degree7.2%
A levels or equivalent31%
GCSEs or equivalent21%
Other qualifications5.3%
No qualifications4.5%
Show as table
Degree or equivalent29%
Higher education below degree7.2%
A levels or equivalent31%
GCSEs or equivalent21%
Other qualifications5.3%
No qualifications4.5%

Main employers: retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating (7.1%), other monetary intermediation (4%), general public administration activities (2.8%), operation of sports facilities (2.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
29%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 31%
Apprenticeships
2
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
1 to 15 months
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You can take a college course before applying for a job.

Courses are widely available, including:

  • customer service
  • contact centre operations
  • principles of customer service
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You can apply to do an apprenticeship with an organisation, for example:

  • Retail Service, Supply and Administration Level 2 Foundation Apprenticeship
  • Customer Service Practitioner Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
  • Customer Service Specialist Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • no specific qualifications or experience to apply for a foundation apprenticeship
  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More about this route
Foundation apprenticeship

You can apply for a foundation apprenticeship if you're aged 16 to 21.

If you're aged 22 to 24, you can apply if you:

  • have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
  • are in care or have been in care
  • are in prison or have been in prison

Apply directly

You can apply for jobs directly if you have customer service experience, for example from working in a shop, bank, hotel or contact centre.

Employers will also look for:

  • some GCSEs, including English and maths, or equivalent qualifications
  • good communication skills
  • IT skills
  • a friendly personality

Registration and professional bodies

Professional and industry bodies

You could join The Institute of Customer Service to use their resources and find professional development training opportunities.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for customer service assistant. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

2 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

  • receives enquiries from potential and existing clients, discusses requirements, and recommends products or services
  • discusses pricing processes with clients, agrees payment arrangements and handles customer accounts
  • makes reservations, books tickets, organises insurance policies on behalf of customers
  • follows up clients to ensure their satisfaction with a product or service and to gain renewal of customer service agreements
  • addresses customer complaints and problems
  • informs customers of special promotions and new product launches

Skills

  • analyse problems for opportunities
  • apply conflict management
  • apply knowledge of human behaviour
  • communicate with customers
  • control of expenses
  • determine charges for customer services
  • ensure customer focus
  • guarantee customer satisfaction
  • have computer literacy
  • implement customer follow-up
  • keep records of customer interaction
  • listen actively
  • perform escalation procedure
  • perform multiple tasks at the same time

Knowledge

  • customer service
  • consumer protection
  • data mining methods
  • e-commerce systems
  • sales activities

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 customer service occupations n.e.c..
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.