With the COVID-19 pandemic posing steep challenges to the contact center industry worldwide this year, providers are facing additional uncertainties in Europe and the UK amid the looming no-deal Brexit and changes to UK regulations affecting temporary workers, according to a new report ISG report.
The report with the punchy title “2020 ISG Provider Lens Contact Centre – Customer Experience Services report for Europe and the UK” found trade and labour issues remained high on the industry’s agenda even as the pandemic brought rapid changes in consumer behaviour.
Reforms to the UK’s IR35 regulations, which limit the role of temporary worker, came as a blow to many public- and private-sector enterprises that hire freelancers, experts, digital consultants and other types of independent workers.
The new rules could open up opportunities for organisations willing to collaborate with providers, startups and technology vendors for “near shoring” or offshoring of labour. Meanwhile, negotiations over the UK’s exit from the EU continue to loom over the region even as many countries, especially Italy and the UK, were hit hard by the pandemic.
