Transforming shrinkage from a hidden cost to a strategic opportunity.

Learn everything about shrinkage and why getting it wrong costs more than you think, a thought leadership paper by Mark Alpern.

Shrinkage remains one of the most misunderstood yet impactful metrics in contact

center management. While often viewed as a simple Workforce Management (WFM) percentage, miscalculating it leads to significant inefficiencies that affect customer experience, employee engagement, and financial performance

This white paper reframes shrinkage as a cross-functional performance driver that directly influences financial outcomes, resource utilization, and long-term organizational agility. It provides a comprehensive guide for contact center leaders and WFM professionals to master this critical metric.

What’s inside?

• Part 1 outlines the fundamentals: what shrinkage is, why it matters, and how leading organizations benchmark and categorize it to improve forecasting accuracy.

• Part 2 examines the consequences of getting shrinkage wrong and the tangible benefits of effective management, including improved cost control, service consistency, and employee satisfaction.

Key insights include:

• The Fundamentals of Shrinkage: A clear breakdown of In-Office (e.g., training, coaching, breaks) versus Out-of-Office (e.g., vacation, sick leave) factors.

  
  

• The Cost of "Getting it Wrong": Why simply adding shrinkage percentages instead of using correct mathematical modeling can lead to overstaffing.

  
  

• Strategic Benefits: How accurate shrinkage management improves service level achievement, reduces employee burnout, and strengthens budget accuracy.

  
  

• Actionable Frameworks: Five steps to audit your assumptions and leverage modern capacity planning platforms, like Cinareo, to transform shrinkage into a strategic opportunity.

Download this white paper to transition from reactive firefighting to a data-driven discipline that protects your bottom line and enhances your competitive position.

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Join our upcoming webinar on "Rethinking Shrinkage: Where Assumptions Create Exposure"

Shrinkage is the single largest source of variance in contact center performance, yet it is often treated as a static planning assumption. In this leader-level briefing, we will explore how blended averages create hidden financial exposure, why "40 hours paid" rarely equals "40 hours productive," and how to stop hidden shrinkage from undermining your capacity plan.

February 11th, 2026 at 12 PM ET. Register now.