The travel industry has a reputation for being a young industry. Indeed for many school and college leavers hoping for a career in travel, its young profile is seen as a bonus and is linked with the industry’s reputation for being fun and glamourous.
But research has shown that customers booking holidays do not always feel comfortable dealing with very young staff and would prefer to deal with someone older with more life experience. This does not mean that the multiples are going to stop taking on young recruits but they are thinking about how they can redress the balance of their workforce.
One company that is ahead of the game when it comes to this issue is Going Places, which scored a first in the industry when it introduced a trainee scheme specifically aimed at the over-25s last year. Head of training Angela McPhillips said: “The main reason was because market research showed that customers like to deal with someone more mature. We also wanted to get people with management potential into the business.”
Like the modern apprentices, the mature candidates were recruited into a specific position and offered on and off-the-job training while working.
McPhillips says it is too early to judge the success of the first intake of 100 candidates, who are only half way through the year-long scheme, or indeed whether it will run again, but the thinking behind the idea remains the same – that the age profile of the workforce should be a better reflection of the company’s customer base.
The travel industry has a reputation for being a young industry. Indeed for many school and college leavers hoping for a career in travel, its young profile is seen as a bonus and is linked with the industry’s reputation for being fun and glamourous.
But research has shown that customers booking holidays do not always feel comfortable dealing with very young staff and would prefer to deal with someone older with more life experience. This does not mean that the multiples are going to stop taking on young recruits but they are thinking about how they can redress the balance of their workforce.
One company that is ahead of the game when it comes to this issue is Going Places, which scored a first in the industry when it introduced a trainee scheme specifically aimed at the over-25s last year. Head of training Angela McPhillips said: “The main reason was because market research showed that customers like to deal with someone more mature. We also wanted to get people with management potential into the business.”
Like the modern apprentices, the mature candidates were recruited into a specific position and offered on and off-the-job training while working.
McPhillips says it is too early to judge the success of the first intake of 100 candidates, who are only half way through the year-long scheme, or indeed whether it will run again, but the thinking behind the idea remains the same – that the age profile of the workforce should be a better reflection of the company’s customer base.