This is Ziptone's dossier on the labor market. On this page, you'll find an overview of all relevant articles about the labor market. The dossier is regularly updated. Ideal if you want to stay informed about this topic.
Last update: May 14, 2026 Jump directly to:
News
Demand for customer service representatives is decreasing – There is still more demand than supply, but the number of vacancies is declining after peaks in 2023 and the first half of 2024.
Customer Service Representative as an ideal starter job: how much longer? With the rise of AI, not only the simple question but also the simple conversation is disappearing from the work of the customer contact employee.
New temporary employment collective labor agreement and new legislation require a reorientation on 'flex' Hiring temporary workers will become more expensive starting in 2026. Five experts discuss the impact and potential solutions for contact centers.
Labor market 2025: Number of customer contact jobs decreases, slightly less tight labor market – Wages will continue to rise and Geert-Jan Waasdorp expects that 60 to 70 percent of first-line employees will lose their jobs in the next one to two years.
Forecast of the Dutch labor market until 2030: not good news – The labor market shortage could triple by 2030. Does the customer contact sector have a problem or is the field part of the solution?
Labor market prospects: facility margins further under pressure – A persistently tight labor market, rising wage costs, a pond in Suriname whose bottom is in sight: what does that mean for facilities?
Virdens WFM congress: code red for the labor market
If the WFM employee wants to have something to plan later, it is time to get started with strategic capacity planning.
Persistent labor market shortages force customer contact managers to make choices – According to Statistics Netherlands, the labor shortage will only really start in 2025. Contact center managers will be faced with difficult choices, says Ilja Gleiser of Inspire Group.
Who's calling please? Near and offshoring go hand in hand with digitization – Tightness on the labor market and ongoing digitization: the perfect storm for near- and offshoring of customer contact.
New rules for flexible working affect WFM process – The rules regarding flexible working have changed again. “WFM employees and managers must from now on record agreements about working hours in writing.”
Working from home is the new normal. Exit classic call floor? – Is the end of the physical contact center in sight? Webhelp and Continuum are changing the size and use of square meters of office space.
Tightness persists, which buttons can you turn? – impression KSF HR congress 2022.
The UWV presented current figures on the state of affairs here: where are the shortages and where are the opportunities?
Randstad, Jumbo and Rabobank showed how they have adapted and optimized their intake process.
“The tightness is real” – All meters are in the red: more uncertainty, larger contact volumes and higher turnover. In the fifth edition of SUSA's Courtyard, a select group of customer contact managers from Sunweb, Rabobank, ABN AMRO, Cygnific and Charity Lotteries exchanged their experiences. Also check out the other editions of the Courtyard sessions.
Research/labour market data
No revolution on the labor market (yet), but fewer contact center employees Only routine front-office and back-office work has shrunk, according to The Economist. A decrease in customer service representatives is also visible.
AI is replacing fewer jobs than expected, but contact center work is being hit hard. More than 50 percent of American jobs will change drastically due to AI. Customer contact work will partially disappear.
Research: AI takes work off your hands but also increases the workload Two new studies shed new light on the “productivity gains” often attributed to AI tools.
AI replaces customer service representatives: fact or confusion? Is the use of AI in customer contact about replacing or strengthening customer contact employees? Or is something else at play?
Shortages on the labor market last for at least six years – Over the next six years, more than two million new jobs will become available, but only 1,6 million new entrants will become available on the labor market. These are the forecasts drawn up by the Research Center for Education and the Labor Market (ROA) of Maastricht University on the basis of analyses.
Another record number of customer contact vacancies – Yource's Customer Contact Labor Market Analysis for the second quarter of 2021 shows that the increased demand for customer contact personnel in Q1 also continued in Q2, with a record number of more than 18.000 vacancies.
Sector study Inspire 2021 – with figures about the labor market within the customer contact area and the impact of the Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB)
More interest in unemployment benefits for work in customer contact – Since the corona crisis, more people on unemployment benefits are looking for a job as a customer contact employee.
Case studies and best practices
Tightness on the labor market? “Employers cannot make do with one solution” The tightness of the labour market forces employers to turn multiple knobs at the same time. Nicky Blom (SUSA) gives a number of suggestions.
Employee turnover in the contact center: when is it too high and how do you limit it? Only when you know how your staff turnover is built up, do you know which buttons you can turn if you want to reduce it.
Attract and retain: turn your contact center into a talent pool – How do you prevent everyone from fishing in the same pond? And how do you prevent premature dropouts during the screening period?
50 tips for recruiting and retaining customer contact employees The labor market tightness will remain high until 2040. In this article we give 50 tips, aimed at recruiting and retaining employees.
Randstad gives a glimpse into the innovation kitchen – Skills of game enthusiasts are perfectly applicable in customer contact, says Randstad. And the company is experimenting with the use of avatars during onboarding.
How do you get more people to work in customer contact? Six programs highlighted – Ziptone highlights the labor market programs of Ocaro, VANAD Academy, Coniche, ContactCare, Olympia Werkvertrust and Ro!Entree.
Binding and captivating in a tight labor market – 30 tips for a new approach. Anyone who wants to do something about binding and captivating employees in a tight labor market should certainly not go for 'one size fits all'.
The customer contact sector can benefit from a different view on talent – Marcella de Muinck of Olympia Werkvertrust sees a job in customer contact as a good springboard. Olympia actively helps and guides people to a job in customer contact, among other things.
Aan Zet: on the way to a job in customer contact – There is still a lot of untapped potential in our country, which sometimes needs some help to come into its own. Programs such as VANAD Academy's Aan Zet increase the chance of success.
Customer contact a profession? No, it still has to be – Thousands of vacancies in customer contact, but the terms of employment are lagging behind. This raises questions about the status of the profession. Ocaro works together with chain partners to help people find work in customer contact.
WFM employees take extreme measures in corona time – In order to remain accessible in times of corona, contact centers have taken drastic measures in response to large call volumes.
Committee: flexible work more secure and more expensive, fixed cheaper and more flexible As announced with the introduction of the Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB), this act would be the gateway to further adjustments in the labor market. How that labor market should be more future-proof has now been mapped out by a committee led by former senior civil servant Hans Borstlap. In addition, the differences between flexible work and permanent jobs are becoming less significant.
Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB) adopted The Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB) was adopted in the Senate on 28 May 2019. The law had already been passed in the House of Representatives. The law must reduce the differences between permanent and flexible work through various measures. The purpose of the law is to make it more attractive for employers to give people a permanent contract.
Balanced Labor Market Act: major impact on customer contact sector – The new Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB) will come into effect on 1 January 2020. That still seems a long way off, but the new law has major consequences for the customer contact sector, which largely depends on temporary workers.
WAB makes flexible labor up to 10 percent more expensive. What now? – The new Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB) will enter into force on 1 January 2020. The exact consequences of the WAB for contact centers are not yet entirely clear. The law is likely to increase the cost of flexible labor by 5 to 10%. A group of contact center managers discussed impact and possible solutions.
WAB: the devil is in the details – The Balanced Labor Market Act (WAB) will come into force in less than three months. Essential parts of the law will take effect immediately on 1 January next. A meeting organized by the Customer Service Federation (KSF) together with temporary employment agencies Randstad and TempoTeam showed that the new law has far-reaching consequences for contact centers.
What influence does the WAB have on broadcasting within customer contact? The WAB ensures that where the entire population used to be kept on the most flexible form of contract, it will now be necessary to take a critical look at the necessary degree of flexibility. Yource expects that organizations will therefore divide the population into three different flex shells (core shell, growth shell and flex shell), each with a different degree of flexibility and an associated contract form. Personnel supplier for the customer contact sector Yource has an extensive white paper about these changes and possible solutions.
Overview of rules and checklists – HR professional medium Personeelsnet has a nice overview with the most important changes and tips and tricks for dealing with the WAB.
Any suggestions for additions to this file? Email the editor.
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