THE expansion of call centres and telesales operations is creating regional job hot spots across the country.
The UK’s call centres currently employ 2% of the working population, but with this service industry growing at an annual rate of 30% that figure is set to rise. According to figures from Datamonitor, by 2002 call-centre workers will outnumber teachers and farmers combined.
The travel industry has played a significant part in that growth, creating hundreds of opportunities in areas where, until recently, travel jobs were few and far between.
Sue Kavanagh, head of human resources for business travel agency Carlson Wagonlit, said: “Advancements in technology mean we no longer have to be based on a corporate client’s site to operate.
“It means opportunities are now not restricted to the southeast, where most clients are based.”
This has been the case for recruitment consultancy C&M, which has opened an office in Birmingham to cater for the growing number of travel companies moving into the area (examples?).
Director Angus Chisholme said: “There has been a lot of investment in city centres like Manchester and Birmingham which has attracted businesses and, in turn, both corporate and leisure travel companies. They are also attracted to areas where unemployment is higher than average because it makes it easier to find staff.”
Chisholme cites Air Miles as an example. It opened its Warrington office in September last year, employs about 250 people, and is planning further expansion.
Travel ’99 exhibitor Travel 2/4 is opening a call centre in Glasgow to deal with the overflow of business from its London and Manchester bases.
Personnel manager Tina Crowe said: “It is becoming harder to recruit and retain people in London and Manchester, especially London where staff turnover is high. We have had more luck in Glasgow where there is less competition.”
Meanwhile, the success of Thomas Cook Direct, which employs a total of 800 staff at its Falkirk and Peterborough centres, has prompted the company to look for a third call-centre location. But while call centre operators are busy opening up in areas of high unemployment, like Warrington, travel companies based in the Thames Valley region are struggling to attract new recruits.
Air 2000 senior recruitment officer Rachel Whiteleg said: “Finding people for our Gatwick office is always difficult because of the low unemployment in the area and the intense competition from other airlines. We don’t have this problem in places like Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.
“We are attending Travel ’99 for the first time in the hope it will help fill our vacancies.
“We have about 200-250 positions for the main season next year. We also hope it will give us a higher profile,” she added.
Virgin Holidays is another operator finding it hard to fill telesales vacancies at its Crawley office near Gatwick.
Personnel officer Janet Rumney said: “It is especially difficult because we are looking for people who have shown a commitment to the travel industry, perhaps by getting a qualification. In the past we have lowered our requirements but it proved more trouble than it was worth because the people we recruited didn’t make the grade.”
In response to the tough recruitment market, C&M has opened a training centre to train people in corporate travel. Since it opened in January 200 have participated in courses.
“Recruiters can be a bit blinkered about who they want to take on, especially in the corporate sector,” said Chisholme. “There are a lot of people out there with the right soft skills who can be cross-trained.”
For jobs in the travel industry see our travel jobs section or visit our partner, totaljobs.com for travel and tourism industry vacancies with some of the UK’s largest companies