More than half of UK travel companies plan to take on new staff over the coming year, a new study reveals.
Of the 57% of firms that plan to create jobs this year, all said they plan to create middle management/skilled labour jobs, more than half (55%) said they plan to create unskilled jobs and just over a third (34%) will create senior management positions.
When asked whether job creation would generate sales, or sales growth would lead to job creation, more than three quarters of all travel companies questioned (76%), said growth needs to come first although large companies are now much more likely to prioritise investment in jobs than they did in 2011.
The findings come from a poll of 670 executives of UK businesses of all sizes across different industries into their attitudes to job creation and their confidence in the economy for the Barclays Job Creation Survey 2012.
But the vast majority of travel businesses (85%) believe that government initiatives to foster job creation have come to nothing so far.
More than half (53%) of travel companies would not consider employing ex-public sector workers, with 29% stating that they were ‘not at all interested’ and 24% stating they are ‘not very interested’.
However, when asked how well equipped public sector workers are to joining their businesses, the travel sector was one of the more positive industries. Fifty nine per cent said that ex-public sector workers are ‘very well’ or ‘quite well’ equipped to joining their organisations, compared with the national average of 41%.
Large companies across all industries with turnover of more than £500 million were less confident than last year, with 70% planning to create jobs in 2012 versus 85% in 2011.
Small businesses were more confident, with 51% planning to create jobs compared with 41% last year.
Barclays head of travel Chris Lee said: “In the face of increased regulation and rising taxes on the travel industry, it is encouraging that the sector is looking to create new jobs in the coming year.
“The increased confidence around investing in jobs in order to grow sales, rather than waiting for sales to increase before hiring people, is particularly promising, and is hopefully a sign of significant investment to come within the corporate sector in 2012.”
He added: “Clearly, there remains a disconnect between public sector workers and private sector employers, with an element of mistrust of the former by latter.
“This is something that needs to be challenged directly if we are to have a fluid employment market place that allows people to move between the public and private sector easily, bringing the best of both worlds to their roles.”