The Real Causes of Burnout in Contact Centres

Employee burnout is a growing concern in contact centres, where high stress and demanding workloads are common.

Understanding the main causes of burnout is essential to creating a healthier work environment and retaining talent.

This article explores five key factors contributing to burnout among contact centre agents and offers practical advice on how to address them.

What Is Employee Burnout?

Employee burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress or overwork, especially when employees feel overwhelmed, undervalued, or unsupported.

It often leads to decreased motivation, reduced productivity, and increased absenteeism, negatively affecting both the individual and the organization.

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5 Key Causes of Employee Burnout in Contact Centres

Burnout can be caused by a variety of factors that slowly drain agents’ motivation and energy. Here are 5 top causes of employee burnout in contact centres and how to address them:

1. Hiring People Who Aren’t a Fit for the Role

Not everyone is built for the pace and pressure of contact centre work, and bringing the wrong people into the role sets them (and your team) up for failure. When new hires quickly feel overwhelmed or disengaged, burnout follows fast.

Traditional hiring methods often miss critical soft skills like emotional resilience, patience, and the ability to multitask under pressure. A candidate might give the right answers in an interview but still struggle once they’re on the floor.

What helps:

Use realistic job previews and role-specific assessments during the hiring process.
Look for candidates with strong communication, empathy, and stress-management skills.
Include experienced agents in the interview process to assess cultural and operational fit.

If you want to know what to look out for when hiring agents, read our article: The Top Call Centre Agent Skills to Look for When Hiring

2. Repetitive Work Without Variety or Autonomy

Day after day of identical tasks, with little room for creativity or variation, wears down even the best agents. Repetition fatigue leads to mental exhaustion and emotional detachment, classic hallmarks of burnout.

Call handling, scripting, and performance metrics are important, but over-structuring the role can leave agents feeling like they’re just ticking boxes.

What helps:

Rotate responsibilities across different channels (e.g. voice, chat, email).
Give agents input into process improvements or customer experience initiatives.
Built in opportunities for skill development, side projects, or temporary role changes.

3. Providing Inadequate or One-Off Training

Initial onboarding may cover the basics, but it’s often not enough. When agents aren’t fully trained on systems, processes, or customer scenarios, they become uncertain, anxious, and prone to mistakes. That stress builds up quickly.

Worse still, training often stops after the first few weeks. Without ongoing development, agents feel unsupported and stagnate in their roles, which leads to frustration and disengagement over time.

What helps:

Make training a continuous process, not a one-time event.
Offer bite-sized learning modules agents can access on demand.
Create coaching moments during real calls to reinforce skills in context.

For tips on how to successfully train call centre agents, read our article: 50 Call Centre Training Tips

4. Forcing Agents to Work With Outdated or Frustrating Tech

Clunky systems, multiple logins, slow load times, and disjointed platforms all create unnecessary friction in an already fast-paced role. Instead of focusing on the customer, agents get bogged down in processes, which increases call times, errors, and stress levels.

Over time, tech frustration can lead to cynicism and disengagement, especially when agents feel their concerns aren’t being addressed.

What helps:

Audit your tech stack for usability and agent impact, not just customer outcomes.
Invest in unified platforms or tools that streamline workflows.
Involve agents in tech decisions or feedback loops when rolling out new systems.

5. Failing to Recognize Effort and Celebrate Wins

Contact centre work is emotionally demanding, often invisible, and frequently underappreciated. When agents don’t feel seen or valued, their motivation drops, and burnout creeps in quietly.

Recognition doesn’t always have to come in the form of bonuses or awards. Even simple, authentic praise makes a difference, especially when it’s timely and specific.

What helps: