Managing contact centers has always been challenging. Juggling customers’ and agents’ needs under tight budgets and timelines. Ensuring the right numbers of qualified staff are available within acceptable wait times. And while facing ever-changing C-suite expectations.
But these tasks become exponentially more difficult to accomplish well when managers also must toss the impacts of a changing, disruptive economy and new and arguably transformational technologies.
Applying workforce management (WFM), both the method and the technology, is how managers keep all these balls in the air.
But can these professionals step up their performance with their expanded acts under the glare of a critical, paying executive audience? Who also face pressure from increasingly demanding shareholders?
To find out, we had a virtual conversation with Dan Smitley, Founder of 2:Three Consulting and a recognized WFM expert.
Q. What are the top issues, developments, and trends that you have seen arise and likely continue into 2026 that are impacting the ability of contact centers to meet staffing levels? What are their causes and drivers?
Nothing surprising here; the biggest trends impacting staffing are and will be the economy and AI. More and more organizations are looking to cut staff and do more with less: and that trend will likely continue as AI continues to mature.
The real thing to watch is which organizations cut too much and let their customer experience (CX) suffer.
How will that impact their long-term sustainability? My guess is that some organizations will overcorrect - laying off too much of their workforce - and as a result, their contact center experience will plummet. That kind of short-term thinking can cause customers to look elsewhere for services.
Tech startups are especially vulnerable here. Many are still defining their CX and are more prone to chasing the “next big thing.” They’ll lean heavily into automation without realizing they’re weakening a key differentiator. They may not realize the damage until it’s too late: and some of the hypergrowth they’re banking on will fall short.
Retail may be a space to watch. Many retailers have already gone through painful cuts due to online shopping. The ones still standing have learned tough lessons and, in some cases, figured out how to balance online and in-person experiences. I think they may be less tempted to cut corners in ways that damage customer service.
Contact centers already walk a tightrope when it comes to balancing cost and experience. The added pressure of economic constraints and the promise of AI creates a real temptation to cut corners. I hope more organizations realize the value of a well-run, well-supported contact center and invest accordingly.
Some companies will get it wrong and pay the price. But the smart ones - those that invest strategically instead of reactively - will build something sustainable and differentiated in a crowded market. There’s still a lot of room for organizations to get this right.
Q. Is WFM keeping up or is it, and its execution, lagging behind?
Implementation of WFM is keeping pace. We continue to see widespread adoption:
- Some organizations are just now being introduced to WFM and its capabilities.
- Others are starting to lean into automation and self-scheduling.
- And some are going even further, implementing AI-based automation and enabling their WFM teams to expand their impacts beyond the contact center and into the broader organization.
From my perspective, WFM is still a strong career path for young professionals. There’s a ton of evolution still to come, and every organization is at a different place in the maturity curve.
But the software itself has been lagging. While a few players are getting creative, many of the big platforms haven’t evolved in years: some in five to 10 years, honestly.
Because WFM is still new to many companies, the software still meets a basic need. But that’s not the same as innovation.
“Contact centers already walk a tightrope when it comes to balancing cost and experience. The added pressure of economic constraints and the promise of AI creates a real temptation to cut corners.” —Dan Smitley
It’s also worth clarifying our language around AI. When vendors say “AI,” they’re often referring to advanced automation or more complex forecasting: not large language models (LLMs) or machine learning in a true sense.
That confusion is slowing down innovation across the board. A more accurate label might be “automated intelligence” rather than “artificial intelligence.”
That said, some platforms like Intradiem and QStory are gaining traction by automating real-time actions and helping teams make smarter adjustments throughout the day. That kind of innovation has real potential: if we stop chasing buzzwords and start focusing on real use cases that solve real problems.
Q. Is automation, specifically that intended to decrease/avoid hiring agents, increasing in the contact center? And if so, what effect is it having and will it have on ensuring staffing levels?
The idea that self-service and call deflection would take care of the easy stuff - leaving the complex work to agents, who have been upskilled and trained on it - has been assumed and anticipated for five to 10 years.
But in reality, we’ve seen very limited examples of that actually happening. More often, what happens is automation is implemented, customers self-serve, and then staff is cut.
Upskilling rarely enters the conversation. Many organizations focus on short-term savings in contact center costs rather than preparing for future needs.
Only the companies that truly value their customers - or their employees - are willing to invest in upskilling their teams.
Take remote work, for example. Plenty of companies saved money by eliminating physical office space. But how many reinvested those savings into higher wages, better benefits, or more flexible work options? A few did it right. Most didn’t.
This is another case of organizations jumping on a trend - automation, AI, deflection - to serve the bottom line. But I think it’s important they pause to ask: What are we optimizing for? And at what cost?
I don’t hope their growth slows or that they’re “caught” by these decisions. I do hope they listen to their customers and employees and learn from any warning signs they start to see. It’s not too late to adjust course and build something that balances efficiency with care: and positions their contact center as a long-term strategic asset.
Is the C-Suite Pushing Frontline Managers the Wrong Way?
The C-suite has long looked at middle/lower-level management as low-hanging fruit to be picked to achieve savings, particularly when business outlooks appear uncertain and especially when revenue growth slows down.
All areas of business are not spared senior managements’ gimlet eyes, including the contact center. So, we asked Dan Smitley the following:
“Are you seeing a pancaking of middle/supervisory management in the contact center, and if so, what are the implications for managing agents? In ensuring team and agent cohesion, performance, and productivity?”
Here’s Dan’s reply:
“To some extent, yes, but no more so than what’s happening at the agent level. Both frontline management and frontline agents are being asked to do more with less, largely due to the assumed benefits of automation and AI-driven intelligence.
“At the supervisor level, improved reporting and dashboarding have replaced a lot of manual spreadsheet work. But the time saved hasn’t been redirected toward more coaching. Instead, it’s just made room for more projects.
“Too often, leadership assumes that giving supervisors better tools will naturally lead to better results. But in the push toward tech, we’ve overlooked the continued need for human connection and manual interaction.
“It’s one thing to quickly spot that someone, let’s say Susie, is struggling with her conversion rate because the data highlights it faster than ever. But unless there’s time to connect with her - both in terms of scheduling and through social or emotional support - those metrics may not move at all. And worse, when that time doesn’t exist, performance can actually decline.
“Supervisors are facing the same challenge as agents: an assumed gain from better tools but without the space to create deeper, more meaningful engagements. Instead of using these tools to enrich the experience, they’re being expected to produce more at a faster pace.”
Q. Let’s discuss the advent and rapid development and spread of AI. Is it a help or hindrance to WFM?
Right now, it’s mostly a hindrance. I’ve seen very little evidence that WFM teams or platforms are using AI in a way that genuinely transforms their work.
Most of the time “AI” is a buzzword. Vendors use it as a placeholder for process automation or a fancier version of the same forecasting models we’ve had for years. It’s a distraction from the real innovation that WFM needs.
I think some of this stagnation comes from the fact that many legacy WFM platforms haven’t had to evolve, as I noted earlier.
The maturity curve in WFM is long and wide: there are still plenty of organizations that are just now adopting WFM for the first time. For those companies, even the most basic platform is a huge improvement, so the pressure to innovate hasn’t been there for the vendors.
There are some newer, more agile platforms entering the space, and I think they could disrupt the industry in a meaningful way. But I worry they’ll get acquired by larger companies and absorbed into bloated, patchwork systems, losing their edge and vision in the process.
That said, I do think there’s exciting potential if we stop thinking about AI as just a faster way to calculate volume and AHT. We need to start forecasting based on effort, not just time. A five-minute password reset doesn’t carry the same emotional and cognitive weight as a five-minute suicide prevention call. Same length, vastly different workload.
The same goes for system complexity. An agent who has to touch 13 systems for a call is carrying a different kind of burden than someone handling a similar call that only requires two systems. But today’s WFM platforms don’t factor any of that in. They’re still too focused on time as the only input.
I’m watching closely to see which platforms begin incorporating these more nuanced metrics - mental load, emotional strain, complexity of system navigation - into their staffing models. That’s when AI will start to help WFM, not just hype it.
Q. To have the right agents at the right times, what do WFM professionals need to know about both customers and agents?
To have the right agents at the right times, you have to know both your customers and your employees.
The old-school WFM approach focused only on the customer: mostly through volume and average handle time. But WFM has matured. Now we have to account for far more nuance on both sides of the equation.
For customers, we’re looking at first call resolution, callback assist, channel preferences, and response time expectations: things that add complexity to forecasting and staffing. Layer that on top of seasonality, marketing campaigns, and macro trends, and forecasting demand gets a whole lot more dynamic.
“...there’s exciting potential if we stop thinking about AI as just a faster way to calculate volume and AHT.”
On the employee side, it can start with simple things: like allowing agents to input their schedule preferences into the WFM platform.
But it gets better when you go deeper. When you understand why someone prefers evenings, for example, you open the door for meaningful compromise. That’s how you meet business needs while helping employees feel seen and supported.
WFM is in a unique position to be an engagement tool. Schedule flexibility, automation, and autonomy can all drive employee satisfaction: but the best WFM teams still bring empathy to the table.
When someone requests a schedule change because they’re sick, the answer shouldn’t just be “Completed.” It should come with a note that says, “Hope you feel better soon.” That’s how you build trust and belonging, and that’s what keeps people around.
When we talk about getting the right agent at the right time, it’s not just a puzzle to solve. It’s a relationship to build: with your customers and your employees.