Chatbots Collapse Call‑Center Growth

Global call‑center employment has fallen since late 2023 — 5.3% below its peak and down for eight straight quarters — with declines starting in high‑income countries around the same time chatbots became widely available. Most displaced workers do not transition into higher‑paid technical roles; only ~10.8% move into technical support, customer success, or software/data jobs, while roughly half drift into lower‑paid customer service, sales, or office roles. — If chatbots permanently hollow call‑center employment in both high‑ and middle‑income countries, it reshapes development pathways, migration expectations, and policy needs for retraining and social protection.