Cost to Replace a Contact Centre Agent
If you run a contact centre, you already know turnover is relentless — agents leave for greener pastures, and with the average Australian contact centre turnover sitting at 32%, that's a lot of recruitment every year.
But how much does it actually cost each time someone walks out the door? It's not just recruitment fees and an induction program — there's a stack of hidden costs that make the true figure far higher than most managers expect.
This guide shows you how to calculate the real cost of replacing a single agent, and how to bring it down.
~30% of salary
As a planning benchmark, replacing an agent costs around 30% of their annual salary — though it varies a lot with induction length and ramp-up time.
~$19,000+
For a frontline agent on the ~$64,393 national average, that ~30% works out to roughly $19,000–$20,000 — often more.
32% turnover
With turnover typically above 30%, the numbers compound fast across a whole centre.
How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Contact Centre Agent?
There's no single number — the cost swings widely with your own inputs (a one-week induction and a ten-week induction produce very different totals). But as a planning benchmark:
Around 30% of an agent's annual salary
For a frontline agent on the current national average of ~$64,393 (see our current salary data), that's roughly $19,000–$20,000 every time one leaves — and higher for roles with longer inductions or ramp-up periods.
Knowing this number matters. It's one of the most powerful tools you have for building a business case: investment in employee engagement and retention stops looking like a "nice to have" and starts looking like exactly what it is — a way to protect the bottom line.
How Do You Calculate the Cost to Replace an Agent?
The most obvious cost is hiring a replacement — but that's only the start. The new agent has to be trained, takes time to reach the performance of an experienced agent, and needs support from other roles to get up to speed. The true cost falls into three categories.
HR & recruitment costs
Recruitment agency fees or job ads, time spent interviewing, reference checking, and pre-employment checks — the direct cost of finding and hiring the replacement.
Training & induction costs
The new hire's salary during the training/induction period, plus the time invested by trainers, product managers and coaches to deliver that training.
Reduced productivity
The biggest hidden cost: how long it takes the new agent to become fully competent, plus the drag on the productivity of the agents and team leaders supporting them along the way.
🧮 Calculate your exact cost with the ACXPA Employee Replacement Cost Calculator
Industry averages are a useful benchmark, but your real cost depends on your own salaries, ramp-up time and support model. Our purpose-built calculator breaks down all three categories and gives you a defensible, board-ready figure for your business case in minutes — pre-loaded with current award and market salary data.
4 Ways to Reduce the Cost of Replacing an Agent
You'll never hit 0% turnover (and if you did, it might signal other problems). So assuming you'll always have some, these four moves reduce the cost of each replacement.
Invest in a Knowledge Management platform
A KMS has been shown to cut induction time by anywhere from 30% to 90% — a strong return on investment, with plenty of benefits for existing agents too.
Use a specialist contact centre recruiter
Contact centres are a unique environment. Recruiters who specialise in the industry screen for fit, so their candidates typically have higher retention — saving you time and money down the track.
Find one in the ACXPA Supplier Directory.
Standardise your onboarding
A consistent, documented process — new-hire checklists, contracts, a standard workstation or work-from-home pack — makes onboarding more efficient and easier for everyone involved.
Create a dedicated new-hire pathway
Call it a nursery, sandpit or whatever you like — a dedicated space for new agents gets them the support they need to succeed.
- A higher team-leader-to-agent support ratio
- Seating next to an experienced agent
- Simpler call types while they find their feet
- A recap session at the end of each shift
The Bigger Lever: Reduce Turnover in the First Place
Reducing the cost per replacement helps — but the biggest budget impact comes from fewer people leaving at all. If fewer agents walk out the door, far less money is needed to replace them.
There's no silver bullet, because turnover usually has multiple causes. But improving employee engagement is always a strong place to start:
- Ideas to enhance employee engagement — ten practical, low-cost ways to lift engagement in a contact centre.
- Using gamification — to boost both engagement and productivity.
- How to retain call centre employees — the foundations that actually drive retention.
- 5 tips to increase productivity — engaged, productive teams are far less likely to leave.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to replace a contact centre agent?
There's no single figure — it varies significantly with factors like induction length and ramp-up time. As a planning benchmark, replacing an agent typically costs around 30% of their annual salary.
For a frontline agent on the current ~$64,393 national average, that's roughly $19,000–$20,000. Use the ACXPA Employee Replacement Cost Calculator for your exact figure.
How do you calculate the cost to replace an agent?
Add up three categories: HR & recruitment costs (agency fees, ads, interviewing, checks), training & induction costs (the new hire's salary plus trainers' and coaches' time), and reduced productivity (ramp-up time plus the drag on the people supporting them).
The third category — reduced productivity — is the biggest and most often overlooked.
What is the average contact centre turnover rate in Australia?
The average is around 32%. With costs to replace each agent sitting at roughly a third of annual salary, turnover at that level has a significant impact on the bottom line.
Why does replacing an agent cost so much?
Because most of the cost is hidden. The obvious costs — advertising and interviewing — are only the start. The larger costs are the weeks or months a new agent takes to reach full competence, and the time experienced agents and team leaders spend supporting them instead of doing their own work.
How can you reduce the cost of replacing agents?
Two levers. Reduce the cost per replacement — invest in a knowledge management platform, use a specialist contact centre recruiter, standardise onboarding, and run a dedicated new-hire pathway.
And, more powerfully, reduce turnover itself by improving employee engagement and retention so fewer replacements are needed at all.
Tackling agent turnover?
Find recruitment, engagement and cost specialists in the ACXPA Supplier Directory.
Browse the full ACXPA Supplier Directory →Take This With You
Turn the benchmark into your own number, then build the case to bring it down.
Calculate your exact cost
The Employee Replacement Cost Calculator breaks down all three cost categories for your centre. An ACXPA member tool.
Open the CalculatorMeasure your turnover
Use the Employee Turnover Calculator to track the rate that's driving those replacement costs in the first place.
Open the Turnover CalculatorReduce turnover
Ten practical, low-cost ideas to lift engagement — the biggest lever on replacement costs.
Engagement IdeasFind a specialist recruiter
Browse contact centre recruitment specialists in the ACXPA Supplier Directory — free and open to everyone.
Browse RecruitersFor Team Leaders and Managers
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Summary
Information is power — and for a contact centre manager, knowing the true cost to replace an agent is one of the most powerful numbers you can have.
At around 30% of annual salary — roughly $19,000–$20,000 for a frontline agent on the ~$64,393 national average, and higher for longer inductions — and with turnover typically above 30%, replacement costs quietly eat into the bottom line year after year.
You can trim the cost of each replacement — a knowledge management platform, a specialist recruiter, standardised onboarding and a dedicated new-hire pathway all help. But the biggest lever by far is reducing turnover in the first place through better engagement and retention.
There's no silver bullet for turnover, but knowing what it's costing you is the first step to doing something about it.
