When legislation promises to “bring jobs back home,” it’s easy to assume it will strengthen both the economy and customer service. But the Keeping the Call Centers in America Act of 2025 overlooks deeper issues driving the problem. While well-intended, the bill introduces serious operational, financial, and strategic risks for any organization that depends on customer support, especially in healthcare. Most leaders still aren’t fully aware of what the Act entails and how it could affect their business.
The reality is straightforward: this Act will increase costs, reduce service quality, accelerate AI adoption out of necessity, and narrow the 24/7 customer support Americans rely on. Unless organizations act now, the disruption will be significant.
Although the bill is framed as a transparency and onshoring initiative, a single provision carries sweeping implications. Companies that offshore customer service functions could lose access to federal funding, grants, and loans. For healthcare plans, many of which receive 40–70% of their revenue from Medicare and Medicaid (KFF, 2024), this limitation could be detrimental. If interpreted broadly, it may prevent federally funded organizations from using global CX partners entirely.
This is not a minor operational adjustment. The Keep Call Center in America Act will disrupt long-standing business models that rely on a blend of domestic and global support to meet rising consumer expectations for speed, accuracy, and availability.
The Keep Call Centers in America Act is driven by a push to bring call center jobs back onshore and strengthen data security. However, it often overlooks a critical reality: these goals cannot be so easily achieved when there’s a shortage of Americans willing to take on call center work.
U.S. contact centers experience persistent labor shortages and annual turnover between 35–45%. Companies compete for a limited talent pool, driving wages upward and forcing continuous retraining. In many markets, the churn rate is so high that organizations spend more time hiring and training than improving service outcomes.
Global outsourcing grew not because companies were cutting corners, but because international labor markets offered greater stability, flexibility, and scalability. The Act attempts to solve a labor problem by restricting the use of global labor rather than addressing the shortage itself — a misalignment that introduces additional cost without improving service quality.
If enacted, the bill will quickly reshape the economics of customer service. Onshoring roles that have long been supported globally will create a surge in labor, hiring, and training expenses. The domestic labor market simply cannot absorb the volume required for many industries, particularly healthcare, insurance, and financial services. Companies will need to raise wages, extend recruiting timelines, and accept lower productivity during ramp-up periods.
This workforce instability will inevitably affect service quality. With fewer experienced call center agents and increased churn, handling times rise, issue resolution slows, and more staff are needed to maintain today’s performance standards. Organizations with peak seasonality or multi-line support will face even greater challenges.
The Act also threatens companies’ ability to deliver round-the-clock support. Today’s global CX model relies on follow-the-sun staffing across different regions. Restricting operations to the U.S. shrinks availability into three time zones. The limitation is structural: there is no way to expand domestic time coverage beyond what geography allows.
Perhaps the most transformative outcome is the acceleration of AI adoption. Rising labor costs and staffing constraints will redirect more investment toward technology, especially when in-house builds are costly and inefficient. As a result, these dollars will shift toward specialized partners who can deliver scalable AI solutions, not out of preference, but economic necessity.
A report by McKinsey & Company highlights that with agentic AI and automation, contact centers are moving toward AI-augmented operations, reducing “cost per call” and enabling fewer agents to manage growing call volumes. As automation takes over more routine tasks, human agents will increasingly focus on complex, high-empathy interactions.
While advocating for more protective legislation is ideal, organizations cannot wait for legislative outcomes. Leaders should prepare their data, systems, service models, and workforce strategies today. A hybrid model that balances automation with human expertise will help manage rising costs while protecting service quality.
High-performing AI models require extensive, high-quality conversational datasets. Companies that do not capture or structure customer interaction data will fall behind. In contrast, organizations with strong datasets, including those partnering with experienced CX providers, will be better positioned to train accurate and reliable AI systems.
Modern AI capabilities depend on scalable architecture, clean data pipelines, and seamless integration. As mentioned in IBM's 2025 CEO survey, many companies struggle with disconnected technology and data architecture — limiting the value they derive from AI and pushing them toward external partners to build robust, enterprise‑wide solutions. Technology modernization is no longer optional; it is foundational.
Organizations should adopt a model where AI manages high-volume, repetitive tasks while human experts focus on complex or sensitive interactions. This approach boosts efficiency, improves consistency, and helps maintain service levels amid labor constraints.
If wait times increase or 24/7 availability becomes limited, proactive updates will be essential. Transparent communication helps maintain trust and manage expectations during periods of operational adjustment.
The bill brings short-term workforce disruption, including potential shortages and rising labor costs. Businesses can mitigate these impacts by optimizing staffing models, expanding remote-ready roles, partnering with specialized CX providers, and accelerating AI-assisted workflows to support frontline teams. At the same time, educating internal teams and external partners about the legislation and its implications is crucial. Clear awareness and preparedness ensure alignment, continuity, and a smoother transition as changes take effect.
As the Keep Call Centers in America Act moves forward, leaders should prepare for rising operating costs, higher premiums or product prices, and potential reductions in affordability. Service performance, which includes speed to answer and resolution times, are likely to decline before stabilizing, and customers may experience narrower service windows.
Simultaneously, the industry will see a rapid pivot toward AI-first operating models. This shift will redefine workforce planning, technology investment, and customer engagement across sectors. Healthcare organizations, which are heavily dependent on federal funding, are likely to feel these pressures earlier than most.
As the Keep Call Centers in America Act reshapes service delivery, organizations will need the right partner to stay adaptable. With deep CX expertise, strong conversational data, advanced AI capabilities, and both onshore and offshore operations, Everise can help companies strengthen service quality, manage costs, and modernize customer experience strategies with confidence.