Growth in Home Based Call Center Reps

In place of offshoring work, large companies are turning to home based workers, according to a recent study by research firm IDC:

Today, there are an estimated 112,000 home-based phone representatives in the United States. By 2010, IDC predicts that number could reach over 300,000 as companies increasingly develop and invest in home-based agents, either with their own employees or by hiring outsourcers.

This offshoring work feeds two different sets of smaller businesses.  First there are small to midsize virtual call center companies.  Then there are the home based workers themselves, many of whom consider themselves proprietors of their own single-person businesses. 

The implications for vendors are significant.  Think about the technology needed to make the home-based work happen:  broadband access, fast computers, reliable telecommunications.  And a home-office setup that provides a quiet, organized setting in which to work.  Not to mention the technology at the virtual call centers. 

Read more at Homeshoring and Its Impact on Small Businesses and a subsequent article at Startup Journal, Call Centers Tap People Who Will Work at Home.