Trade told: increase IT staff’s salaries or risk losing them

Information technology

Trade told: increase IT staff’s salaries or risk losing them

INFORMATIONtechnology staff will continue to leave travel companies in droves if employers do not start to increase salaries, a specialist recruiter has warned.

Mike Thompson, joint director of Francis Thompson, which recruits finance administration and IT staff for the travel industry, said earnings fall far behind other sectors for people such as software and networks specialists.

“A tour operator was looking for someone on a salary of £25,000 but for the skills they required, that person could be getting £35,000 to £40,000 in other sectors,” said Thompson.

The situation has been made worse because non-cash benefits – traditionally quite attractive – have been subject to cost-cutting initiatives by many employers in the travel industry.

But Thompson did report that salaries for accountancy staff have caught up. “Rates are pretty much on a par with service industries,” he said. “But IT is still lagging.”