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The jobs market in the travel industry is beginning to recover – and wages are rising for staff with the right skills. Juliet Dennis reports
Salaries in the travel industry have broadly kept pace with inflation since 2005, according to a new survey.
Travel recruitment agency New Frontiers Travel Recruitment said a survey of its clients’ job offers between 2005 to 2013 showed salary levels in travel dipped in 2009 after the recession hit before stabilising in 2010 and starting to rise again in 2011.
Confidence in the economy is now boosting the jobs market as companies look to expand, said the company.
Sunny outlook
The findings are backed up by other recent surveys such as the Barclays Employers Survey 2014. It found that 72% of businesses in the travel industry were planning to increase wages in the year ahead, but also warned that 61% of companies were struggling to recruit sufficient skilled labour. Barclays’ survey was based on 684 UK businesses across all sectors.
According to New Frontiers Travel Recruitment, salaries have risen most in sectors where there is a dearth of highly qualified staff. High street travel consultants in London and the southeast of England can now expect a basic salary of £16,000 compared with £14,000 in 2010 and £12,000 in 2005. Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal prices rose 33.4% between 2005 and 2013 – meaning the typical salary has remained flat in real terms.
Call centre agents’ base salaries of £18,000 in 2013, up from £14,500 in 2005, suggest they are worse off. Their wages should top £19,300 if inflation is taken into account. However, with commission earnings included, on-target earnings had risen dramatically to £35,000 in 2013, up from £20,000 in 2005.
In the business travel sector, a manager earning £22,000 in 2005 could expect to be earning £29,000 with inflation – in reality, typical wages now top £33,000.
Down and out
New Frontiers recruitment operations manager Jose Cofone said salary rises had been forced on companies recently because certain skills were in short supply. He said many staff had left the industry as businesses scaled down, or failed, during the recession.
More than 30 travel companies shut down in 2008; by 2010 the number peaked at 239 travel companies closing down, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
Cofone said: “As the recession bit and bookings fell, companies had to become leaner and fitter so they downsized their teams, froze recruitment for non-essential roles, and reduced salaries.
“A lot of salaries are higher than in 2008 because companies have had to entice people, but the number of quality job seekers has gone down.”
Salaries are continuing to rise “steadily” and companies are also using new tactics to recruit staff such as increased training, promotion and commission-earning opportunities.
Skills shortage
New Frontiers has seen job applications rise from 50,600 in 2012 to 60,300 last year. There were 1,160 job vacancies registered on its books last year, and slightly more, 1,350, in 2012.
But Cofone stressed. “Where in the past companies would have had five to 10 people to choose from, now they have two to four.”
But the good news is that travel staff are staying longer in their jobs as working conditions improve. Cofone added: “Companies are investing in training. As a result, staff are happier and staying longer.”