A bad economy delivers an unexpected surprise: high-quality candidates for call center agents. Over-qualified agents deliver top CSAT and NPS scores and increased customer loyalty.

A good economy delivers an ugly side effect: more desirable jobs hire away top call center talent. Result? A lower-caliber workforce prone to turnover and inconsistent results.

Why? Because they’ve failed to evolve. What worked decades ago doesn’t work today.

The average brick-and-mortar call center agent is 23 and has five years of work experience. One-third of agents have attended college. Contrast them with flexible workforce agents—their average age is 38, with 15 years of work experience. 81% have attended college.

What do you get when you hire workers with little maturity or experience? Etiquette, punctuality and soft skills are lacking—and so are customer satisfaction scores.

With 85% to 140% average annual turnover at call centers, revolving doors are standard. So is the wasted time and money. Huge attrition means call centers are constantly paying to train employees they won’t keep.

The average agent drives just 12.5 miles to a call center job. That means slim pickings for talent from the local workforce.

Call volumes run in peaks and valleys. Over-staffing equals wasted time and money, while under-staffing a creates cranky customers on hold or missed sales. Rock, meet hard place.

Call center employees are not bad folks, but traditional call centers are designed to bring out the worst in them. A heavy-handed focus on utilization rates kills morale and that dissatisfaction rubs off on customers.

It changed the way companies manage inventory by allowing volume to match demand with less risk and waste.

It connected everyone to information—and each other—and eliminated time waste.

It increases quality and participation of flexible skilled labor, eliminating wasted skills.

Companies have access to higher-skilled individuals who would otherwise not be available to them in traditional jobs. The result: Better service, a higher degree of expertise and lower churn.

Flex scheduling instead of the traditional 40-hour workweek allows companies to access experts on demand. No idle time. No efficiency waste.

Independent workers actively choose their working style and report higher levels of satisfaction. They work in their field of expertise, do so on their own flex schedule, and can make as much money as with full-time employment.

The U.S. working-age population is redefining what work looks like.