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A contact centre in Manila: billable hours, profit, and what 30 percent fewer calls do

You run the case. Read the prompt, answer questions from the notes below, and share data only when the candidate asks for it or gets stuck. Score at the end.

Case timer

00:00

Target length:

1. Read the prompt aloud

Read it slowly, then pause. Let the candidate ask questions before they structure.

Harbour CX (a fictional outsourcing firm in the Philippines) runs a 500-agent customer service team for a bank. Each agent is paid for 2,000 hours a year, at a cost of USD 4.50 an hour including benefits, and 85 percent of paid hours are billable (the rest go on training, meetings and breaks). The bank pays USD 12 per billable hour. Supervisors, the site, IT and recruiting cost USD 3.6 million a year. What are revenue, profit and margin? Then the bank adds an AI assistant that cuts calls by 30 percent, and Harbour CX cuts agents to match. What is profit if the site and support costs stay the same?

2. Answers to clarifying questions

This case has no scripted clarifying answers. Answer from the prompt, and say "assume what you think is reasonable" if the prompt does not cover it.

3. A model structure

Compare the candidate's structure with this one. A different split can be just as good if it is clean and fits the problem.

Profit = billable hours x price per hour, minus agent cost, minus site and support costs
- Billable hours = agents x paid hours x billable share
- Agent cost = agents x paid hours x cost per hour
- Site and support costs are mostly fixed in the short run
- Test the change: 30 percent fewer hours and agents, same fixed costs

4. The working, step by step

Each step shows how a strong candidate works it out. Share a new fact from it only when the candidate asks or is stuck, and let them do the math: the result in the dark box is what they should reach.

Step 1: Billable hours
What a strong candidate does: 500 agents, 2,000 paid hours each, 85 percent billable.
Billable hours a year: 500 × 2,000 × 0.85 = 850,000
Step 2: Revenue
What a strong candidate does: 850,000 hours at USD 12.
Revenue (USD): 850,000 × 12 = 10,200,000
Step 3: Agent cost
What a strong candidate does: 1,000,000 paid hours at USD 4.50.
Agent cost (USD): 500 × 2,000 × 4.5 = 4,500,000
Step 4: Operating profit
What a strong candidate does: Revenue minus agent cost minus USD 3.6 million of site and support costs.
Operating profit (USD): 10,200,000 - 4,500,000 - 3,600,000 = 2,100,000
Step 5: Operating margin
What a strong candidate does: Profit over revenue.
Operating margin (fraction): 2,100,000 ÷ 10,200,000 = 0.2059
Step 6: Profit with 30 percent fewer hours
What a strong candidate does: Revenue and agent cost both fall 30 percent; the USD 3.6 million does not.
Operating profit after the fall (USD): 10,200,000 × 0.7 - 4,500,000 × 0.7 - 3,600,000 = 390,000

The recommendation to listen for

At the end, say: "The CEO walks in. What is your recommendation?"

Harbour CX should change how it is paid before volumes fall, because a 30 percent drop in calls would cut its profit by over 80 percent, from USD 2.1 million to USD 0.39 million, even after cutting agents. First, the site, supervisors and IT cost the same with fewer agents, so the margin falls from about 21 percent to about 5 percent. Second, under hourly pricing every call the AI handles is revenue lost. The risk is that the bank moves all simple calls to AI and keeps only the hardest ones with people. As a next step, offer to run the AI assistant itself and be paid per resolved query, and move spare agents to other clients or to work such as checking AI answers.

Risks a strong answer names: Attrition: replacing an agent means recruiting and training costs and weeks of lower productivity; Clients may build their own centres in India or the Philippines instead of outsourcing.

Score the candidate

Score each criterion from 1 to 5. A 2 or a 4 sits between the descriptions.

This case has no exhibit. Score Exhibit reading on how the candidate used the data you gave them: did they pick out the number that matters and say what it means?

Structuring

1: No clear structure, or a memorized framework that does not fit the problem.
3: A sensible structure, but with some overlap, a gap, or no clear priority.
5: A structure built for this problem, with no overlap and no gaps, a stated hypothesis, and a clear first step.

Math

1: Frequent errors, no units, or needed heavy help to finish.
3: Right answers but slow or messy working, or one error caught late.
5: Accurate and clearly narrated, with units, a sense check, and what the number means.

Exhibit reading

1: Read the chart aloud without finding the number that matters.
3: Found the key number but gave only part of the so-what.
5: Pulled the right number quickly and said what it means for the case.

Synthesis

1: Summarized what was done, with no clear answer.
3: Gave an answer, but with weak reasons or no next step.
5: Answer first, then two or three reasons with numbers, the main risk, and next steps.

Communication

1: Hard to follow: long silences, no signposting.
3: Clear most of the time, with some rambling.
5: Calm and concise, signposted each step, and checked in with the interviewer.

Total

0 out of 25

Score all five criteria to see the band and the feedback template.