Travel salaries up sharply in 2022
Wages for new standard jobs in travel have risen by a significant 13.03% since before the pandemic, according to the 2022 H1 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment.
It surveyed all new vacancies registered with the companies during H1.
With an average of £27,635, salaries for standard new travel jobs (those paying up to £40,000) jumped by more than £3,000 from £24,449 recorded in the first six months of 2019.
It was also up by 13.71% from the first half of last year.
However, new executive travel roles (those paying more than £40,000) have seen an average drop in salary of 4.81% since 2019 and 2.63% since 2021 to £50,189.
This has resulted in overall salaries for new travel jobs increasing by 5.25% in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period of 2019.
With an average wage of £29,707, travel salaries remain in line with those seen at the beginning of last year – down by just 0.03%.
Recruitment activity levels in the travel industry hit a record high during the first half of 2022, with the number of candidates being placed in new travel jobs jumping by 625% from 2021, and up by 25% from 2019.
Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, said: “It may look like travel salaries have unexpectedly jumped in the past year, but this has been a long time coming. With the current lack of available candidates, wages simply had to rise.
“Travel companies are realising that it’s no longer acceptable to pay minimum wage to experienced candidates – and they’re also realising that they simply won’t be able to fill their job vacancies .”
“We are also seeing many candidates handing in their notice and then being counter offered by their current company with significantly higher salaries in an effort to convince them to stay.”
Ray Monty
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