Call center shrinkage refers to the percentage of time agents are paid to work but are unavailable to handle customer interactions. This includes time spent on breaks, training, meetings, system downtime, and other non-call-related activities. Shrinkage is an essential metric in workforce management as it affects staffing, scheduling, and overall service performance. Understanding and managing shrinkage helps businesses ensure they have enough agents available to meet customer demand while accounting for necessary off-phone activities.

Types of Call Center Shrinkage

    Shrinkage is typically divided into two categories:
  • Planned Shrinkage: Time scheduled in advance, such as vacations, training sessions, team meetings, or one-on-one coaching.
  • Unplanned Shrinkage: Unscheduled time from handling calls, including sick leave, technical issues, extended breaks, or last-minute absences.

How to Calculate Shrinkage

The basic formula for shrinkage is:
                Shrinkage (%) = (Total Non-Productive Time/Total Scheduled Time ​) × 100
Scheduled Time is the total number of hours an agent is expected to be available for work during a given period. This includes all hours the agent is planned to be on shift, regardless of how that time is used. It’s the total time an agent is being paid for. Example: If five agents are scheduled to work 8 hours each in a day, the total scheduled time is, 5 agents × 8 hours = 40 hours Non-productive time is the portion of scheduled time when an agent is unavailable to handle customer interactions. This can include breaks and lunch, meetings, training sessions, coaching, system outages, personal time off (e.g., sick leave, vacation), logging issues, or technical delays. These are necessary but reduce the time an agent handles calls or chats. Let’s say a contact center has 1,000 scheduled weekly hours for all agents. 250 hours are spent on non-productive activities like training, breaks, and meetings.                                 Shrinkage = (250/1000​)×100 = 25% This means that 25% of the scheduled time is unavailable for handling customer interactions.

Why Shrinkage Matters in Contact Centers

  • Affects Staffing Plans: High shrinkage can lead to understaffing and longer wait times.
  • Impacts Customer Experience: If too few agents are available, service levels and satisfaction may drop.
  • Influences Agent Workload: Low shrinkage may mean more workload per agent, causing stress or burnout.
  • Guides Forecasting: Accurate shrinkage data helps improve schedule forecasting and resource planning.
Call center shrinkage is a vital workforce management metric that affects customer service and agent efficiency. Businesses can optimize staffing, maintain service levels, and support customer satisfaction and employee engagement by monitoring and planning for shrinkage.