Morocco’s Customer Service Industry Faces 40% Revenue Drop Amid COVID-19 Crisis

"The first quarter of 2020 was relatively spared, as we were able to react quickly. But the second quarter will be more severely affected, with a 15 to 30% drop in turnover for April and 30 to 40% for the months of May and June. The rest will depend in particular on the impact of the deconfinement on the economic activity of our clients, especially in Europe; but we still lack visibility," said Otmane Serraj in an interview with Jeune Afrique.

The president of the Moroccan Association of Customer Relations is nevertheless optimistic about the future. "We hope to gradually return to normal in the last quarter of 2020, which would mean a 15 to 20% drop in the sector’s annual turnover, or a shortfall of 196 to 260 million euros," he says. He explains that the health crisis related to the coronavirus has not led to any contract cancellations.

"Our contracts are generally multi-year, which partly protects us. In addition, the general trend is towards the intensification of the customer relationship, and this is an area that becomes even more strategic in times of crisis. Our contracts do, however, provide for a modulation of our services according to activity volumes, and we have reduced the sails on the operations most severely affected by the crisis, particularly in the tourism, media or automotive sectors," explains Otmane Serraj.

He also assures that the drop in activity has not so far led to job cuts. "At this stage, we are rather slowing down recruitment and not replacing natural turnover, traditionally very high in the sector (25% to 30% per year), with more departures in the summer period," he says. He fears a stronger tension on service prices.