Call centre stress management: 5 ways to combat staff burnout and boost productivity

It’s not uncommon for staff to feel stressed in the pressurised environment of a call centre. Left unaddressed, this can lead to burnout, damaging productivity, and affecting mental wellbeing.

According to McKinsey, the top-cited reason for customer care employees leaving is poaching by competitors, followed by employee burnout, employee dissatisfaction, lack of advancement opportunities, and poor work–life balance.

Because of this, call centre stress management is essential not only for healthy and engaged employees, but also to reduce agent turnover.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how to spot burnout and share some handy tips to help with stress management.

What is call centre burnout?

Call centre agent burnout, also known as call centre stress syndrome, occurs when agents and supervisors experience high stress levels for extended periods. Left untreated, call centre agent burnout can quickly impact employees’ work, resulting in lower satisfaction and productivity. Ultimately, this can lead to employees seeking work elsewhere.

Call centre work can be extremely stressful, and the pressures of dealing with irate customers quickly and efficiently can easily lead to stress-induced burnout. Research by the Contact Centre Management Association revealed that 53% of frontline call centre employees report symptoms of stress.

To avoid the worst effects, managers should implement stress management interventions in their call centres.

What are the symptoms of call centre stress syndrome?

Call centre stress syndrome can have damaging consequences on agents and their health. Keep an eye out for the following warning signs:

Poor mental health

Problems related to mental health, such as anxiety and depression, are a major symptom of burnout. Mood swings, lack of appetite, and sudden changes in productivity are all red flags.

Less energy

Stress can wear employees down and lead to fatigue. When employees feel mentally drained, they’re less likely to stay focused for extended periods of time. Look for employees who are visibly tired and have difficulty concentrating.

Loss of interest

Too much pressure can quickly lead to employees losing interest in their work. Team members might become less willing to participate in projects or go “off the map” during projects, making it more difficult to meet deadlines.

Lack of personal care

Stressed employees are less likely to look after themselves properly. They might eat less healthily, lose their appetite, or neglect personal hygiene. Equally, they may not take proper breaks or eat while working.

What are the causes of call centre stress?

A variety of factors can lead to employees feeling stressed. Here are some of the top examples:

• Angry customers: Frequent interactions with dissatisfied customers can leave a mark on your employees. It’s crucial to provide thorough training and equip employees well to handle difficult interactions.

• Unrealistic workloads: Overloading your agents with work is a surefire way to create call centre employee burnout.

• Isolation: With an increasing number of call centre agents working remotely, there’s a risk employees will lose a sense of connection. Agents may feel lonely and less willing to ask for help even if they need it. This disconnect can also contribute to poor mental health, leading to depression and other problems.

• Not taking breaks: Whether talking to customers or dealing with managers, call centre agents are always on the go—and some employees don’t take full advantage of their breaks, leading to increased stress. Empower your team to take regular breaks to cool off and recharge.

• Not enough support: Agents must be given the support and assistance they need from managers. This includes not only adequate training and coaching, but also recognition for good work.

How call centre stress can impact your business

Left unmanaged, call centre stress can quickly have negative effects. Here are some of the ways stress can impact your organisation, agents, and customer experience:

High turnover levels

Some stress is inevitable within a contact centre, whether it's frustrated customers or tight deadlines. Too much pressure, however, can result in agents re-evaluating whether they want to work for you. This might result in your business losing some of its top talent.

When employees do leave their positions, you’ll need to find replacements—a time-consuming and expensive process. New staff will require training and onboarding, leading to further expenses.

What’s more, if you don’t find the right fit, you’ll need to repeat the process, requiring further resources and more time spent trying to fill key positions.

More mistakes

About 95% of call centre workers report decreased productivity as a result of stress, and unfortunately, even simple errors can have consequences for your business.

From a simple data entry mistake that leads to incorrect customer information, to miscommunication that results in lost sales or frustrated clients, stress-induced errors can quickly add up. Over time, these mistakes can harm customer trust, reduce efficiency, and ultimately impact your bottom line.

Of course, mistakes can also have much larger consequences and can even lead to fines or reputational damage. Mishandling data, for example, can put you at odds with regulations, leading to hefty penalties.

Agent absenteeism

Call centre stress can have a marked effect on the health and wellbeing of agents. Stressed employees are more likely to take days off due to burnout or poor mental health.

High levels of absenteeism can have many negative impacts on your organisation. You might encounter call centre staffing issues during busy periods, which results in customers waiting in longer queues to get answers or resolve issues.

Lower customer satisfaction

When agents are stressed, they tend to be less effective. For customers, this means poorer levels of service and longer waiting times. This translates to lower first call resolution rates, high transfer rates, and, ultimately, lower customer satisfaction scores.

Too many negative customer experiences can damage your reputation, and consumers may decide to go elsewhere rather than take a risk with your business.

5 effects of call centre stress syndrome on agents

Call centre work stress can also have a significant impact on your agents. Let’s look at some of the biggest ways stress can affect call centre employees.

Degraded health and wellbeing

Call centre stress can cause a variety of issues that impact an agent's wellbeing, such as contributing to anxiety. Anxious employees may exhibit low levels of motivation and have difficulty concentrating because they’re constantly worrying about their performance.

Stress can also lower an employee’s self-esteem. They may feel they can’t do their job effectively and lose confidence, which can then have a knock-on effect on their ability to communicate effectively with customers.

Lower levels of productivity

When agents are overwhelmed by stress, their ability to focus and complete tasks efficiently declines. High-stress levels can lead to mental fatigue, making it harder to process information quickly and respond effectively to customer inquiries.

Stressed agents may also experience decision paralysis, where they struggle to make quick, confident choices—leading to longer handling times and increased frustration for both employees and customers. Additionally, chronic stress can result in higher rates of absenteeism, leaving teams short-staffed and further decreasing overall productivity.

Lower job satisfaction

Constant stress can make call centre work feel more exhausting and less rewarding, leading to decreased job satisfaction among agents. When employees feel overwhelmed by high call volumes, difficult customers, and performance pressures, their enthusiasm for their role can quickly fade.

Over time, this dissatisfaction can result in disengagement, where agents feel unmotivated and disconnected from their work. According to Gartner, there is a 25% median attrition among customer service reps. Employees who don’t feel valued or supported are also more likely to seek opportunities elsewhere, contributing to higher turnover rates and additional recruitment and training costs for the business.

More conflicts

High stress levels can make agents more irritable and less patient, increasing the likelihood of conflicts—both with customers and colleagues. Frustrated employees may struggle to maintain a calm and professional tone during challenging customer interactions, which can lead to escalations and negative customer experiences.

Additionally, stress can strain workplace relationships. When agents are under pressure, miscommunications and tensions with teammates may arise, creating a toxic work environment. This can reduce teamwork and collaboration, making it even harder to maintain a smooth and efficient call centre operation.

5 ways to manage call centre stress in 2025

There’s no denying that call centre stress is a common problem for many businesses. The good news is supervisors have different stress management options that can help build a more pleasant environment and empower agents to do their jobs more effectively while feeling more at ease.

Here are some best practices for managing stress in call centre environments:

1. Introduce Ai support

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the way call centres operate, from facilitating more personalised experiences to providing powerful analytics to help agents hit their call centre KPIs.

Dialpad Support, for example, is an Ai-powered contact centre platform that offers a variety of features to support agents. The Ai Live Coach ensures agents always have the information they need to answer customers’ questions accurately and quickly, while Ai Scorecards analyse calls in real time to show managers whether agents performed the required tasks, speeding up QA processes.

2. Encourage regular breaks

Call centre work can be mentally exhausting, so encouraging agents to take short, scheduled breaks can help reduce burnout.

Implement wellness initiatives like guided meditation sessions, stretching exercises, or even gamified stress-relief activities. A refreshed agent is more likely to stay focused, engaged, and productive.

3. Provide ongoing training and support

Uncertainty and lack of confidence can significantly contribute to stress. Offering continuous training, coaching, and access to knowledge bases ensures agents feel well-prepared for customer interactions.

Consider using microlearning techniques, interactive simulations, or mentorship programs to build confidence and reduce anxiety in high-pressure situations. Some contact centre platforms also provide useful coaching tools. Dialpad Support, for example, lets supervisors put together “playlists” of call recordings to show agents good (and bad) examples of real-world customer calls as they’re getting up to speed:

4. Offer flexible schedules

Not everyone works at their best on a standard nine-to-five schedule. Childcare commitments and other factors mean some agents can’t be available during certain hours. A more flexible approach helps employees feel less stressed, meaning they can focus on their work more effectively.

Customers today also expect around-the-clock service. You can gain the best of both worlds by offering more flexible schedules and supplementing with an Ai Agent to ensure there’s always an agent available when a customer needs them.

Dialpad offers robust call centre workforce management solutions to help with organising and scheduling, such as automated scheduling that lets supervisors adjust their staffing to help manage burnout.

5. Provide a positive and supportive culture

A toxic or overly high-pressure work environment can significantly increase stress levels. Encourage open communication, recognize employee achievements, and create a culture of support where agents feel valued.

Regular team-building activities, peer support programs, and constructive feedback can help agents feel more engaged and less overwhelmed.

Benefits of handling call centre agent stress

So, why should you invest time in call centre stress management? Here are a few advantages of handling call centre agent stress effectively:

1. A more pleasant working environment

Stress management means employees can conduct their work in a calmer, more enjoyable environment. They’re more likely to work harder and provide better customer service.

A pleasant working environment will always be more appealing to new candidates, making you more attractive as an employer, which can lead to receiving more applications when hiring—and lower recruitment costs.

2. Lower costs

Besides recruitment costs, whether it's dealing with mistakes or providing counselling to support employees’ mental health, there are many other costs associated with employee stress, such as increased absenteeism, lower customer satisfaction, and decreased overall productivity.

Stressed employees are more likely to take sick leave, make errors in their work, and have difficulty delivering high-quality service, all of which can negatively impact the business' bottom line. You can cut these costs by managing stress effectively. The funds saved can be used to grow your business and invest in better tools for customer support.

3. Retain top talent

Your business has likely worked hard to build a talented team of call centre agents. You’ll be keen to hang onto staff that can represent your brand effectively and foster stronger customer relationships. If agents feel looked after and valued in their roles, they’re less likely to seek external positions.

4. Fewer absences

For the reasons mentioned, call centre stress can have a detrimental effect on employee health. By focusing on stress management, you can ensure your agents are physically and mentally healthy, and always operating at peak performance.

The result: a lower risk of employee absences, ensuring you’ll always have enough staff to meet your call handling needs.

Take the pressure out of call centre stress management with Dialpad

There’s no denying that call centre stress management is crucial for modern call centres to operate effectively.

Whether it's productivity, teamwork, or health and wellbeing, stress can take its toll on agents in many different ways.

A good call centre platform can be a vital tool that equips your supervisors to coach and support agents and provide guidance live on calls while providing an excellent customer experience.