The Evolution of Workforce Management: From Support Function to Strategic Operator

Workforce Management has traditionally been viewed as a support function within the contact center industry. However, I believe the role is poised to evolve into that of a strategic operator. Several emerging trends will enable WFM teams to unlock their full potential and become a driving force in contact center operations.

One of the key shifts will be the expansion of technical skills within WFM teams. These teams will increasingly acquire expertise in programming, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), data engineering, data analysis, and data visualization. In addition, WFM professionals will become product experts in adjacent contact center platforms, including quality management, routing, and vendor management systems. This technical and operational knowledge will position WFM as a decision-making entity within organizations.

A significant area of influence for WFM will be vendor management. Traditionally, business process outsourcing (BPO) partners have been responsible for forecasting demand for the contact centers they support. In the future, WFM teams will take ownership of this process, providing demand forecasts directly to vendors. By establishing real-time data pipelines, WFM teams will be able to monitor each vendor’s productive hours on an interval basis. This real-time oversight will allow for immediate notifications when a vendor is over- or under-delivering, enabling tighter control over vendor expenses and driving operational savings.

Another major transformation will be the merging of operational FP&A with capacity planning. In many organizations today, there is a fragmented handoff between WFM and FP&A—WFM calculates full-time equivalent requirements, which are then passed to FP&A to forecast labor expenses. This disjointed process delays hiring and attrition decisions, impacting capacity and operating expenses. As WFM takes ownership of labor expense forecasting, it will streamline decision-making, allowing for swift hiring and attrition adjustments to meet budget and customer experience goals.

Routing strategy will also become a core responsibility of WFM. Currently, operational owners make key routing decisions, such as queue creation, agent assignments, and overflow management. However, these decisions directly impact WFM functions, including forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling, and reporting. Since operational teams often lack expertise in these areas, their routing decisions can lead to inefficiencies and missed forecasts. In the future, WFM will assume control over routing decisions, with input from operational teams rather than the other way around.

Finally, the WFM function will merge with data analytics teams. As WFM gains influence over vendor management, FP&A, and routing, it will naturally become the authority on structuring, reporting, and analyzing contact center data. Many organizations currently separate these functions, creating silos that hinder efficiency. Given WFM’s growing impact on business operations and agent performance management, integrating these teams will lead to a more cohesive and data-driven approach to decision-making.

The evolution of WFM from a support function to a strategic operator is inevitable. By expanding its technical expertise, exerting greater influence over vendor management and FP&A, and integrating with data analytics, WFM will become the true backbone of contact center operations. Organizations that embrace this transformation will gain a significant competitive advantage, achieving improved efficiency, cost control, and customer experience outcomes.