Aussie travel company forced to look for staff overseas.
Echoing the national Australian staff shortages in the hospitality, travel and tourism sectors in Australia, Managing Director Patrick Barden of Australian travel company Latitude Travel Marketing says the company is finding it increasingly difficult to fill positions and is now being forced to consider alternatives to traditional recruiting methods to find suitable candidates, such as advertising abroad.
Mr Barden told The Mole that he believes there is a national shortage of high calibre candidates with over the last six months the Company having had severe difficulties in filling several Sales Representation positions advertised in all states, saying “We have tried industry press, both print and electronic, as well as general media, all to little avail.”
He added, “We are a progressive company which has demonstrated good growth in our five years of operation, but staff shortages are beginning to affect our expansion plans, but it is difficult to represent companies if we cannot find the reps to fill the positions”. “We are constantly looking for staff as we continually attract new clients, but lately it is difficult to even fill existing positions”.
He confirmed though that although he was certainly receiving some applications for advertised positions, applicants did not have the necessary level of experience he required and the Company has always prided itself on the high calibre of staff.
Mr Barden said. “I find it amazing that despite offering a package of about $60,000, with a new company car, mobile and laptop and the opportunity to travel to exciting destinations, we are still finding it difficult to attract the right candidate”.
With the current low level of unemployment in Australia Mr Barden believes that there are not enough locals looking for jobs and consequently why he is considering advertising overseas in an attempt to draw candidates who are interested in sponsorship, or perhaps attract Australasians who have already lived or travelled abroad extensively and are now looking to break into the travel industry as a career option.
He said that ideally he was looking for enthusiastic people who have travelled to a large number of destinations with London traditionally a good base that attracts passionate travellers with a real excitement for our destinations.
Mr Barden said, “In discussions with others in the industry it is obvious to me that this is becoming a huge problem, and with 4% unemployment I imagine the travel industry isn’t the only industry suffering staff shortages”.
In an effort to find an answer to Mr Barden’s dilemma he goes on to say, “We are now trying to build up a bank of CVs through alternative means of advertising such as the “TNT” London based magazine, travel colleges and tour operators with experienced tour leaders looking for a change in rolls, all this is in an effort hoping that when positions arise, as they do so often, we will at least have some quality candidates on file.”
Latitude Travel Marketing can be contacted on 02 9664 9187 or [email protected]
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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