The facts that companies have started to give importance to customer relations, retail channels in the market have increased, the personal banking is developing and that the new technologies are being integrated into the business processes have brought about the development of the call center sector. Within this framework, the number of the personnel working in the call centers has significantly increased and customer relations field has been professionalized, and this led the companies to focus on their primary line of business through outsourcing their customer relations management activities.
The call center sector in Turkey has a great potential for development in the years ahead thanks to the availability of its educated, qualified and young labor force, the high number of both universities and schools providing vocational education, the accessibility of the high value-added call center services and the existence of a large number of foreigners living in Turkey, as well as the facts that Turkish people do not speak foreign languages with a distinguishable accent, the country is extremely attractive for foreign investors and that a great many investors designate Turkey as the center for carrying out their operations in other countries.
Over 300 large and medium-sized call centers are operating in Turkey.
- The call center sector employs approximately 35,000 persons, most of whom are young employees.
- The number of chairs used in the call centers in Turkey rose to 30,000 with an increase by 13% in 2008, compared to the previous year.
- It is anticipated that the Turkish call center market will grow by 12% in 2010, and will continue to grow by 11% within the next five-year period ahead.
- It is expected that the sector will provide job opportunities for 65,000 persons in 2013.
- The call centers are predominantly used for customer services and technical support.- Regarding the sectoral distribution, it is seen that telecommunication, wholesale/retail, banking/insurance, communication technologies and transportation/logistics sectors are among the top sectors.
- While most of the call centers are located in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, there are call centers in Antalya, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Erzincan, Gumushane, Malatya, Sivas, Usak and Yalova, as well.
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Sources:
Data from the Call Centers Association
“Global and Turkish Call Centers Sector Report”
“Turkey’s Call Center Market 2008” IMI Conferences, J. Morton Institute, August 2008, Istanbul