For more than a decade, call centers were one of the most reliable ways into formal office work in middle- and lower-income countries. That route is now shrinking. Revelio Labs' global headcount data shows call center employment is 5.3% below its December 2023 peak. Of the 70 quarter-end readings since 2009, headcount fell from a year earlier only eight times, and all eight have come in the last eight quarters.