Imagine a call centre has 100 agents scheduled to work during a shift. You might expect all 100 agents to be available to answer customer calls. In reality, that rarely happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some agents may be on breaks, attending training, joining meetings, taking leave, or dealing with unexpected issues. As a result, the number of agents available to handle calls is usually lower than the number scheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This difference is measured as call centre shrinkage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In simple terms, shrinkage tells you how much scheduled agent time is not available for handling customer calls<\/strong>. It is an important workforce planning metric because it helps call centres and BPOs estimate how many agents they need to schedule to meet customer demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this guide, you’ll learn what shrinkage means, how to calculate it using the shrinkage formula<\/strong>, what counts as shrinkage, and how it affects staffing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrinkage in a call center is the percentage of paid, scheduled agent time that is not available to handle customer calls or other customer interactions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, an agent may be scheduled to work for 8 hours. However, not all 8 hours may be available for handling customer calls. Some of that time may be spent on activities such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of this unavailable time can contribute to call center shrinkage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In simple terms, shrinkage shows the difference between the time agents are scheduled to work and the time they are actually available to handle customer interactions. Call centers, contact centers, and BPOs use this metric to understand agent availability and plan staffing more accurately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shrinkage formula<\/strong> helps a call center calculate how much paid, scheduled agent time is not available for handling customer calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrinkage (%) = (Unavailable paid agent-hours \u00f7 Total paid scheduled agent-hours) \u00d7 100<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The same calculation can be used as a BPO shrinkage formula<\/strong>. The key is to use the same time period and the same definition of paid scheduled hours for both figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suppose a call center has 100 agents<\/strong>, and each agent is scheduled to work 40 paid hours per week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, calculate the total scheduled hours:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 100 \u00d7 40 = 4,000 hours<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, assume agents are unavailable to handle customer calls for these reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The total unavailable time is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 600 + 300 + 300 = 1,200 hours<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now apply the shrinkage formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrinkage = (1,200 \u00f7 4,000) \u00d7 100<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrinkage = 30%<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the call center has a 30% shrinkage rate<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means 30% of the total paid, scheduled agent time was not available for handling customer calls<\/strong> during that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One important point is that unpaid breaks should not be included in paid scheduled hours or counted as paid shrinkage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrinkage is important when a call centre decides how many agents it needs to schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, suppose a call centre needs 100 agents available<\/strong> to handle its expected customer calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the expected shrinkage is 30%<\/strong>, scheduling only 100 agents will not leave 100 agents available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The staffing formula is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agents to schedule = Agents needed \u00f7 (1 \u2212 Shrinkage rate)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using the example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 100 \u00f7 (1 \u2212 0.30) = 142.86<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the call centre would need to schedule about 143 agents<\/strong> to have around 100 agents available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It may seem easier to add 30% to the number of agents needed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 100 + 30% = 130 agents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But this does not give the correct result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If 30% of 130 agents are unavailable, only about 91 agents will be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is why the staffing calculation uses the percentage of time agents are expected to be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrinkage is only one part of staffing. Call centres also need to consider call volume, average handling time, service targets and busy periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call centre shrinkage can be divided into two main types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planned shrinkage includes activities that managers know about in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because these activities are planned, they can be included when creating agent schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unplanned shrinkage happens when an agent becomes unavailable unexpectedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unplanned shrinkage is harder to predict. However, managers can use previous data to estimate how often these situations occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all shrinkage is a problem. Breaks, training and coaching are important parts of a healthy call centre operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal is to plan for this time properly<\/strong>, rather than trying to remove every activity that takes agents away from calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These terms are related, but they measure different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, an agent attending a training session during scheduled working hours may contribute to shrinkage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If an employee leaves the company, that is attrition<\/strong>, not shrinkage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing the difference helps managers use the right metric when reviewing staffing and agent availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no single shrinkage rate that is right for every call centre<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some industry guidance commonly mentions rates around 30% to 35%<\/strong>, but the right rate depends on how the call centre operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shrinkage rate can be affected by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lower shrinkage rate is not always better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a company could reduce shrinkage by cutting training or employee breaks. This may lower the percentage, but it could also affect employee performance and customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The better approach is to understand why agents are unavailable and plan for that time properly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call centres cannot completely remove shrinkage, but they can manage it better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do not look only at the total shrinkage percentage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Track where the unavailable time comes from, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This makes it easier to see what is affecting agent availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check whether scheduled activities take as long as expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if a training session is planned for 30 minutes but usually takes 45 minutes, the extra time can affect agent availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where possible, schedule training, meetings and breaks when call volumes are lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can help keep more agents available during busy periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The overall shrinkage rate may not show the full picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compare shrinkage across different:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can help managers find when agent availability is lowest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the same problems keep reducing agent availability, investigate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, repeated system downtime or frequent late logins may need to be addressed instead of simply scheduling more agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call centre shrinkage shows how much scheduled paid agent time is not available for handling customer calls.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The basic formula is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrinkage (%) = (Unavailable paid agent-hours \u00f7 Total paid scheduled agent-hours) \u00d7 100<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing the shrinkage rate helps call centres and BPOs decide how many agents they need to schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal is not to remove all shrinkage. Breaks, training, meetings and leave are normal parts of running a call centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, businesses should track shrinkage, understand why it happens and include it when planning staff<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can help call centres keep enough agents available and handle customer calls more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CallerDesk <\/a>provides cloud telephony features such as IVR, call routing<\/a>, live call activity and reporting to help businesses manage customer communications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagine a call centre has 100 agents scheduled to work during a shift. You might expect all 100…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,256],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cloud-contact-center","8":"category-cloud-contact-center-solution","9":"cs-entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5944,"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5942\/revisions\/5944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/callerdesk.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Is Shrinkage in a Call Center?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Is the Shrinkage Formula?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Shrinkage Formula Example<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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How Does Shrinkage Affect Staffing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why Can’t You Simply Add 30%?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Counts as Call Center Shrinkage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Is Planned Shrinkage?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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What Is Unplanned Shrinkage?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Shrinkage vs. Occupancy, Schedule Adherence and Attrition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Metric<\/strong><\/td> What it means<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Shrinkage<\/strong><\/td> Scheduled paid time when agents are not available for customer contacts<\/td><\/tr> Occupancy<\/strong><\/td> How much of an available agent’s time is spent handling customer contacts<\/td><\/tr> Schedule adherence<\/strong><\/td> Whether agents follow their planned schedule<\/td><\/tr> Absenteeism<\/strong><\/td> When an employee is absent from work<\/td><\/tr> Attrition<\/strong><\/td> When employees leave the company<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n What Is a Good Shrinkage Rate?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How Can a Call Center Manage Shrinkage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Track the Reasons for Shrinkage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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2. Compare Planned and Actual Time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Plan Activities Around Busy Hours<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Check Shrinkage by Shift<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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5. Fix Repeated Problems<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n