PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Gig Economy is becoming increasingly popular and customer service agents are looking to get in. According to Aspect Software’s 2nd annual 2018 Agent Experience Index, customer service agents might be the next wave of workers who want the option of an ‘on-demand’ job. Aspect’s research found that 40% of customer service agents surveyed would be interested in pursuing an ‘on-demand’ job, with 51% of Young Millennials/GenZ expressing interest. The appeal of the Gig Economy stems from prioritizing workplace preferences differently than agents have traditionally done in the past.
Several factors are driving agents’ desire to work in the gig economy, such as:
- 86 percent of agents say they have an interest in on-demand opportunities because it will provide them a work/life balance that they can have total control over
- 82 percent say they are interested because they will have the ability to just focus on work and not worry about job stability
- 82 percent say on-demand work is compelling for the ability to make extra income
Young Millennials/GenZ over index on all benefits of the Gig Economy, with the following special interests:
- 81 percent say interest is driven by having more control over the work they do
- 88 percent say having a flexible work schedule that they themselves can determine is attractive
- 80 percent see the ability to pick up additional shifts, when they want, via an ‘Uber-like’ app as a compelling reason to be a gig economy worker
“The Gig Economy is “triple win” for customer service,” said Shep Hyken, customer service and experience expert and New York Times bestselling author of The Amazement Revolution. “For companies, it allows for great flexibility in staffing during busy and slow times. For “giggers,” they like the flexibility of being called on when needed, the extra money, and work that can be tailored to fit into their lifestyle. And finally, for customers, it means a better service experience, as even during busy times, the company is staffed to deliver fast support when the customer wants and needs it.
Companies that are using on-demand agents are also investing more in the employee experience, providing gig agents with more modern technologies than traditional agents have had access to. Seventy two percent of on-demand agents said that they have simple and easy to use software, compared to fifty eight percent of traditional agents, while sixty nine percent of on-demand agents said they have the most-up-to-date software to service customers compared to fifty eight percent of traditional agents. And, sixty three percent of on-demand agents said they have the most up to date software to contact their employer compared to thirty eight percent of traditional agents. On-demand agents are also more trained compared to traditional agents on modern channels like SMS and social media and prefer smartphone-based interaction with their employers.
“Brands that decide to explore nontraditional labor models can gain advantages beyond just serving customers with more authentic experiences,” wrote Ian Jacobs, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research. “There are hard, bottom-line and customer experience benefits to gig economy models, including faster response times, lower cost per interaction and access to new – and better educated – talent pools.”¹
To see the results of Part Two of the 2018 Aspect Agent Experience Index survey, click here.
¹ “Customer Service Reboot: The Rise Of The Gig Economy”, Forrester Research, Inc., May 8, 2018
About Aspect
Aspect helps enterprises break down the walls between people, processes, systems and data sources, allowing organizations to unite around the customer journey. By developing fully native interaction management, workforce optimization and self-service capabilities within a single customer engagement center, we enable dynamic, conversational interactions and create a truly frictionless omni-channel customer experience. Leveraging the agility of our worldwide cloud infrastructure and over 40 years of industry ingenuity, Aspect conveniently and easily connects questions to answers while helping enterprises keep service levels high and operational costs contained. For more information, visit www.aspect.com.
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