Election and Brexit concerns hit travel recruitment
Concerns about the election and Brexit took their toll on travel recruitment in November.
As the country goes to the polls today, the latest figures from C&M Recruitment show activity in travel recruitment dropped markedly last month following a sharp increase over the previous two months as a result of the Thomas Cook collapse.
New candidate registrations dipped by 29% during the month, which was the largest monthly fall since last December.
The volume of new travel job vacancies dropped 18% after a rise for three months in a row between August and October.
After October’s near record high, average pay for a new travel job has fallen to its lowest level in eight months with a 5.44% dip in November.
The decrease means that the average wage across the industry now stands at £27,686, down on October’s figure due to a higher than normal number of junior roles being filled in the month.
Despite this, the overall picture for the past year remained healthy with the rolling 12-month average dipping only marginally to plus 5.21%.
Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, said: "November’s figures were disappointing, with salaries and activity falling across the country. Companies in many industries are choosing to delay their recruitment plans at the moment due to worries about the election and Brexit as well as uncertainty regarding the economy, and it is clear that these concerns are also affecting hiring intentions within travel.
"We’re not expecting to see a dramatic correction during the traditionally quiet month of December, but we would hope to see a more positive start to 2020 with many companies looking to get great travel staff in place ready for the peak season."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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