According to new research, hybrid work has become a standard part of UK contact centres. A majority of employers expect a large proportion of employees to remain at home through 2027.
The 2025 “Hybrid Working in the Contact Centre” survey, conducted by Pitch Market Surveys in partnership with The Forum Cnect Wales, and consultancy Spacial also revealed that workplace culture and effective communications continue to be a challenge for employers.
Respondents indicated that 71 per cent of their advisors work from home at least some of the time. By 2027 65 percent of respondents believe that this percentage will remain the same, indicating that, despite predictions for a return to the workplace, the hybrid model has become a feature of the industry.
Hybrid models based on employee preferences
39 percent of organizations use a model where employees choose the place they want to work each day, without a fixed schedule. 28 percent of organisations use a similar approach that includes structured workdays in the office as well as at home. Only 14 percent of employees use hybrid schedules that are set by their employers. Another 6 percent have an all or nothing policy where employees work entirely remotely, or on-site.
Data also shows that the performance metrics of home-based teams are comparable to those of office-based teams in terms such as absenteeism and attrition. Homeworking teams outperform their office counterparts on some measures such as attrition, absenteeism and customer satisfaction.
Michael Gray, Director of Pitch Market Surveys said that the 2025 survey showed how popular hybrid work has become among employees and employers. While organisations report business challenges in such areas as workplace culture and internal communication, they benefit greatly in areas like employee engagement, recruitment, and absenteeism.
Management concerns but recruitment advantages
It appears that hybrid models make it easier to hire and retain staff. Around 58 per cent of respondents stated that recruiting home workers was easier than office roles. And 52 per cent said that homeworkers are easier to retain. Training and performance management are also problematic. 63 percent of respondents said that training remote employees is harder, and 47 percent reported similar concerns about performance oversight.
60 percent of organizations said that they provided sufficient training and support for managers and supervisors who supervise hybrid teams. Only 12,5 percent of respondents felt that their organisation was failing in this regard.
Only 8 percent of organizations offer their employees the option to choose their own work schedules. This limits the degree to which workers are able to manage their time.
Future service delivery trends and technology investment
Employers have invested heavily in their infrastructure as a result of the move to hybrid, with 83 per cent upgrading their IT systems and security. Only 4 percent of employers said they hadn’t made any upgrades.
Voice calls remain the most popular communication channel, with 95 percent relying on them. Email (90%) is the next most popular communication channel, followed by webchat (75%). Social channels and automated voice systems are used by 60% and 53% respectively. AI tools are used in 24 percent centres.
The future of AI for customer service remains a mixed bag. Although 36 percent of respondents believe that the majority customer interactions will be handled by automated systems by 2030, 64 percent are either unsure or think human advisers will still play a leading role.
Maintaining culture and scaling flexibility
Hybrid working poses many pressing questions, including workplace culture and employee well-being. The culture was the most common concern cited by organisations, with 63 percent citing it as such. This was followed by pastoral care (53%) effective communication (48%), and remote management (40%) The report concluded that hybrid work can be beneficial for employee retention and engagement but it also weakens the sense of team connection and makes it difficult for leaders to maintain consistency in their employee experience.
According to the survey, hybrid working has both advantages and disadvantages. The survey results suggest that the balance between benefits and drawbacks of hybrid working is becoming clearer.
Gray said, “The message for businesses is clear – the most important thing to do is to optimize hybrid strategies and working models.” “Take hybrid working from people at their peril.”
