Lack of quality candidates is impacting travel market
The number of new candidates for travel jobs fell last month to the lowest level since February 2016.
The numbers dropped by 19% compared to January and by 13% compared to February 2018, according to the latest figures from recruitment firm C&M.
It was a similar picture for new travel jobs, with the number of vacancies falling by 15% in the month and 14% annually to their lowest February total since 2013.
"January was an extremely busy month for us with candidates, vacancies and placements all way up, but activity certainly slowed in February," said Barbara Kolosinska, director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment.
"While we don’t expect this to develop into a long-term trend, the lack of quality, available candidates is impacting the market and creating issues for many travel companies when it comes to their recruitment."
Meanwhile, wages dipped 3.9% month on month to £26,481 but this was still up by 7.44% from February 2018.
Similarly, salaries for the typical new job in travel (those paying up to £40,000) dipped by 3.93% from January to £24,271 but up 6.47% from February 2018.
"In terms of salaries, the 3.9% monthly dip is larger than we would like to see, but the overall picture remains very healthy," said Kolosinska.
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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