Call centre advisors’ salaries fell dramatically, according to Blue Arrow, a recruitment firm specialising in the catering, driving, industrial and office sectors. The recruiter’s December sector report found salaries for call centre advisors fell 19.1% year over year in December to £17,354.

“With their earnings dropping by almost a fifth year-on-year, it proved a tough month for call centre advisors,” said Blue Arrow Marketing Director Toni Richards. “However, it could be that we start to see a turnaround in January as retailers hire more professionals to handle customer service queries following the busy festive period.”

Personal assistants also experienced a notable drop, down 4.6% to £28,431. However, they remain the best-paid professionals in the office sector, where there was otherwise a reasonably positive picture. A 1.1% rise in the industry average, from £22,023 to £22,259, was marginally below the UK inflation rate of 1.2%.