Current situation of customer services in

Hauts-de-France

With a 6% increase in turnover, outsourced customer services is a sector that has been growing since 2016.

But what is the territorial impact of this sector, which represents an overall turnover of €2.9 billion?

An example is the Hauts-de-France Region, France’s leading centre for outsourced customer services.

Hauts-de-France, France’s leading region for outsourced customer services
As the historical cradle of customer services in France, the Hauts-de-France is the leading region for outsourced contact centres with almost 11,000 jobs, including 8,700 of the SP2C members (i.e. 28% of jobs in France).

Webhelp, Majorel, Sitel, Armatis, Comdata: why did the top 5 choose the Hauts-de-France region to develop?

• A large recruitment pool, providing employers with the opportunity to target required profiles and the possibility of quickly moving up the ladder
• A range of training courses adapted to the needs of the sector, both in initial and continuing training.
• Recruitment and training support systems dedicated to customer services (Proch’emploi, Proch’orientation, Pôle emploi, etc.).
• Competitive operating costs, both on wages and real estate
  Discover our cost compararison tools
• A strategic geographical position, allowing easy and fast connections to major cities, including Paris.

Find out more about the customer services sector in the regions

Customer services, a strong socio-economic impact on the Hauts-de-France region

The social impact of customer services on the territory

Young graduates, people on a pathway to integration, people with disabilities or people who are far from employment…

By turning to a wide variety of profiles, the customer services sector is proving to be a real vector for socio-professional integration.

For example, 42% of employees have a high-school level.

FOCUS TO HAUTS-DE-FRANCE

In 2019 in Hauts-de-France, the majority of jobs in the sector are held by 25-34-year olds (39%) but all age groups are represented.

Once on the job, employees benefit from initial and ongoing training, enabling them to develop and diversify their skills or change assignments.

Indeed, in SP2C member companies, most managers were employed as advisers. The sector therefore plays a role as a “social lift”.

This is one of the sector’s strengths that the Hauts-de-France Region has chosen to build on, by putting in place real expertise in recruitment and training support programmes.

“Being aware of the importance of this sector and its challenges for the future, the Hauts-de-France Region is multiplying exchanges with the profession and mobilising all of its measures, particularly those for training and recruitment. “Yann Pitollet, CEO Nord France Invest.

Thanks to these contacts, 60% of SP2C members now have partnerships with local schools and training centres, such as the University and Institutes of Technology of Lille, Cepreco and the UIMM.

The economic impact of the customer services sector

Contrary to a popular belief that most contact centres are located abroad (offshore), 64% of the French market’s production is carried out in Europe, more than half of which (53%) is in France.

A figure that grows by 2.5% in 2019 and which therefore represents 33,000 employees in France, among the SP2C members.

In addition to the direct impact on the GDP generated by the revenues of these companies (€300 million turnover for SP2C members in the Hauts-de-France in 2019), the establishment of a customer services centre has two major advantages for the dynamism of its host region.

1. The creation of hundreds of jobs

The establishment of a contact centre can transform the face of the employment area.

Often accompanied by a rapid increase in the number of employees, the creation of a contact centre makes it possible to boost the job offer (and reduce the unemployment rate) in the area.

This is notably the case of Armatis in Calais, Webhelp and Booking.com in Tourcoing, CreditSafe in Roubaix or Majorel with its various regional branches (Lens, Dunkerque, Douai, Saint-Omer…).

2. A major impact on the (re)dynamisation of the territory and urban renewal

Indeed, opening a contact centre often leads to:

• the creation of new leisure and restaurant services
• development of the housing and mobility offer

All of this is aimed at the company’s employees and the ones close to the company.

Finally, it is important to know that outsourced customer services is a constantly evolving sector which, with the development of digital technology, will have a growing socio-economic impact on the territories.

“Digital transformation, new consumer uses, “increased telephone advice”, AI, CSR are all major subjects for the profession and as many opportunities to contribute even more to the economic and social development in the regions.”
Yann Pitollet, CEO Nord France Invest

This theme will be the subject of the event that we will organise jointly with the SP2C and the Hauts-de-France Region in the spring of 2021.

Do you want to go further?

Yann Pitollet, CEO and Olivier Charras Services Project Director at Nord France Invest explain how regional public players can contribute to the further development of customer services in the Hauts-de-France region, particularly on the crucial issue of employment and training.

Download the interview

Source: Customer Relationship Barometer EY / SP2C 2020, download here.