Country Reports on Call Centres

The German market was covered in a comprehensive report drafted on behalf of Fedma by Institut für Handelsforschung Köln, Dr. A. Kaapke, D. Büechel, A. Brkljacic, M. Schmitz (see below for contact details). The information below is a brief summary of this study (with local figures and compilation of both local and international sources) with an update on its accuracy, relevancy and actuality.


Daniela Büchel Institut für Handelsforschung Säckeringer Strasse 5, D – 50935 Köln, Tel:+49/221.94.36.07.10

Jan Peter Kruse, Redakteur Call Centre Profi Gabler Verlag (GWV Fachverlage) Abraham-Lincoln Strasse 46, D- 65189 Wiesbaden, Tel : +49/611.78.78.346, Fax: +49/611.78.78.437, janpeter.kruse@bertelsmann.de, www.callcentreprofi.de

Bettina Hoefner, DDV – Deutsche Direkmarketing Verband e.V. DDV counts some 1.000 member companies and has different councils. The Telemedien- und Call Centre Services Council was created in 3/1998 and represents most of the key players in the telemarketing sector.Tel:+49/6.11.9779.340, Fax:+49/6.11.9779.388 www.ddv.de


The comprehensive list of Literature and Publications covered in the IfH-Report (see report) covers almost all topics.
There are three main "publishers" in the area.
In the area of magazines, the publications TeleTalk and Call Centre Profi are a major source of up to date information on the market. The contributions of Jan Peter Kruse (Call Centre Profi) to "Handbuch Call Centre Management", Hannover 1996 a.o. indicate the involvement in the market events. Moreover, the callcentre-infos/marktuebersicht on www.callcentreprofi.de and its counterpart on www.teletalk.de provide already a very good starting point for documentation on German call centres.

The German market knows its own annual Benchmark study, inspired by the Purdue Benchmark via the Dutch NCCBP and part of the (agonising) European Benchmarking Platform. The study has known several industry and academic partners, but has a good coverage of the German market. At this very moment a benchmark is conducted by Call Centre Profi, DDV and IfH (see below).

In Kooperation mit dem Fachmagazin Call Centre Profi und dem Deutschen Direktmarketing Verband (DDV) führt das Institut für Handelsforschung an der Universität zu Köln (IfH) in diesem Jahr zum ersten Mal eine Benchmarkstudie für In- und Outhouse- Call Centre in Deutschland durch.

The third major source of information is the Deutschen Direktmarketing Verband, DDV. Their contributions to other surveys and reports, their own publications, mainly their Jahrbuch Telemedienservices, are crucial to access this market.


1.Labour Market : Quantitative
The data provided by DDV estimate the size of the market end 1999 at ca. 1800 call centres and some 185.000 staff employed. The Datamonitor data (with a special attention to the German market in the report Call Centre Markets in Germany to 2003) give the following figures : .
A report by Gemini consulting gives far higher figures, 198.000-297.000 for 1999 and 238.000-357.000 for 2000.
The % of the total workforce was at 0.4 % end of 1998 but rising rapidly. If we use this proportion as an indication of the maturity of the market, Germany was lagging behind the European head-peloton, but seems to be rapidly gearing up now. The yearly growth rates quoted for the market, up 25 %, confirm this tendency.
Average call centre agents are about 30 years old, with 2 out of every 3 agents younger than 35.
The IfH-Report quotes a degree dissertation on HR issues in call centres, stating that 44 % would be full-time employees, 45 % part-time workers and only 11 % temporary workers. The 1998 Benchmark on the other hand only gives 77 % as permanent employees, implying either a higher proportion of temporary work, or the fact that some of the other categories (probably mainly the part-time staff) do work under other contractual forms.
67.2 % of call centre employees are women.

2.Labour Market : Qualitative
The overall image of the call centre market is not very positive (but the situation does not seem different from other European countries, see e.g. UK section).
This negative image seems more influenced by the acceptance of telephone and new communications, then by the pure work related issues (as seems to be more the case in the UK). The restrictive legislation on active telemarketing indicates the "irritation" of a majority of the population on aggressive forms of teleservices, but in reality this image often is generalised to the entire sector.
The strong framework of social regulations and different issues related to labour flexibility (e.g. restrictions on night and Sunday work, Arbeitszeitgesetz, §9 Abs. I) provide a more "normal" perception of the working conditions, but reduces the sector’s reactivity and may undermine its competitive position in an international context. The press release below is issued by DDV and gives an overall very positive image of the "labour climate" in call centres, quoting 29 % of staff labelling working conditions as "very good", 42 % as "good" and 19 % as "fair".
Listening-in and call recording, even for quality monitoring purposes is very limited, and forbidden by §201 of German penal code. Some side-by-side listening, with explicit agent approval etc… may be allowed.


Our review of the data provided by the IfH-report did confirm that the information contained in this section was complete and up to date. So we only bring a brief summary here. We do have to point out that we found no reference to the situation or the integration of the qualifications in place within the educational framework, neither at secondary or at higher education level.

1.Call Centre Agent Qualification "The construction of standardized initial and follow-up trainings for call centre employees is demanded by companies". The main Qualification is the Call Centre Agent qualification certified by IHK, Industrie und Handelskammer (Chamber of Commerce and Industry). The 240 hours program qualifies the agent for basic tasks of general call centre agent (both in/outbound). The breakdown of the program is as follows :

• 60 h. IT and information processing
• 30 h. Call Centre : general introduction
• 80 h. Service and customer oriented communication
• 40 h. Basic sales skills, legal & organisational aspects
• 30 h. On the job training.

See www.duesseldorf.ihk.de If not all, most training providers to qualify and certify to IHK Certificates and Exams (e.g. www.callcentreakademie-saar.de).

2.Call Centre Supervisor Qualification
The IHK also offers an additional level of qualification for "Call Centre - Teamleiter", an 210 hours qualifying program, with main accent (125 hours) on People management skills and social regulations. Other modules of the program cover Project management, Call Centre technology and general Business management skills.(information line : +49/228.104.451)

There is also an "Intensive Course in Call Centre Management", organised by ebs (European Business School Management Academy GmbH and Prisma Consulting GmbH, running since 2/2000. Program takes two semesters (35 days spread over the year, mainly during weekends), requires 4 written exams to qualify and costs 12.500 Euro. Info from (christen@management-academy.de).

3.Receptivity to European Standards
The German market is in general not very open to the rest of the European call centre market. On the other hand, the participation of several key players in the European Qualification Standards project, in the European Benchmark Platform etc… may indicate a willingness to integrate in the European mainstream events. But the same remarks apply to the German market as to the French and the UK markets : their critical mass allows for semi-autarchy, for lots of fragmented initiatives that may all be economically or socially viable.