HOUSE prices may have shot up in the past two years,
but travel industry salaries haven’t gone the same way.
A quick glance at the 2004 Salary Survey, compiled by
AA Appointments, shows wages have been static for the past couple of years –
particularly in the south.
This year, some staff will find their earning
potential is around £2,000 less than if they had been offered a similar job two
years ago. A salary survey was not carried out in 2003 due to a depressed
market.
Business travel managers in the south were paid an
average of £28,000 in 2002, rising to £35,000 for a top earner. This year the
average earnings will be £1,000 less, while top earners will be paid around
£33,000.
Counterparts elsewhere in the UK seem to be faring a
little better. The average business travel manager in the Midlands earned
£21,000 two years ago and can expect to get £24,000 this year. Top earners
could command £29,000 – £4,000 more than in 2002.
In Scotland, the average business travel management
salary will be £22,000 next year, compared to £21,000 in 2002.
AA Appointments managing director John Tolmie put the
trend down to supply and demand. With a lot of companies moving out of the
capital, bosses are finding they have to raise salaries to attract staff in the
regions. However, in London there are more qualified candidates than there are
jobs.
Tolmie said the ‘boom’ years of business travel – the
late 1990s to 2000 – are also to blame. With so many companies recruiting,
candidates could pick and choose jobs which meant they could push their salary
levels up.
“There are some people who joined the industry in 2000
on a good salary and have maintained that level while the market itself has
dropped,” he said.
“One senior business travel consultant lost her £31,000-a-year
job last year. That was an exceptional amount of money to be paid. Seven months
later she finally got another job, but she had to take a £7,000 pay cut.
Elsewhere in business travel, salaries haven’t moved.
The average and maximum wages for juniors working in London remain £18,000 and
£19,000 respectively. However, London juniors can command on average £6,000
more a year than those in Scotland and £4,000 more than in the Midlands.