Travel companies struggling to find quality candidates
The number of new candidates for travel industry jobs has fallen to a yearly low, according to the latest figures from C&M Recruitment.
While the number of new travel jobs created rose by 13% from June and by 10% from July 2017, the number of new candidates fell 16% to a yearly low.
For the first seven months of this year, the number of new candidates has fallen by 7% compared to the same months in 2017.
Barbara Kolosinska, director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, said: "Another fall in the number of new applicants looking for travel roles means it continues to be a candidate-driven market.
"The industry has suffered from a lack of quality candidates for some time now so this is not a new development, but it has become very apparent that companies and recruiters in the travel industry need to be smarter and more creative in how they generate talent.
"It is likely to remain a candidate-driven market for the foreseeable future because while we should see an increase in new candidates once the summer is over, we also fully expect to see an increase in new vacancies as well, so the equilibrium is likely to continue.
"To help them fill their roles, travel companies should start recruiting as soon as possible. They should give themselves more time to fill their vacancies, broaden their requirements, consider offering improved salaries or benefits packages and should also look again at their attraction and retention policies."
Meanwhile, C&M’s Travel Salary Index revealed travel salaries last month stood at their second highest point ever.
With a figure of £27,600, wages for the average new travel job have dipped from June’s record figure but are still 5.91% higher than July 2017.
The new rolling 12 month average, which gives a better idea of trends, shows salaries have risen by an average of 3.43% over the course of the past year.
It was a particularly strong month for new travel jobs in the north of the UK with a 2.45% rise to £23,889, their highest total since October 2012.
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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