Travel firms say “everything is on the table” as the threat of redundancies across the sector looms with the end of furlough on the horizon.
Some have cut jobs or thrashed out new rotas in a bid to survive winter.
Advantage Travel Partnership called the issue “the single biggest concern” as sales failed to match 2019 levels, summer draws to a close and furlough ends on September 30.
Leisure director Kelly Cookes said: “We are working with our HR consultant to support members with information, options and frequently asked questions. Difficult decisions will need to be made.”
It comes despite reports of a steady rise in week-on-week sales, with the Canaries, cruises, and the Caribbean among the most popular destinations for the coming months.
But Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the Association of Atol Companies, said summer trading was “pretty poor”.
“It’s not sufficient to keep people going through the winter and we’re only five weeks away from the end of furlough,” he said. “Companies can’t afford to pay people’s wages and can’t afford to make redundancy payments.”
Call centre agency Jetline Travel made 14 redundancies, some voluntary, across its sales, marketing and customer service teams in July while 32-branch Althams Travel said staff would return part-time on a four-day week, paid pro rata, to stave off redundancies.
Jetline chief executive Steven Roberts said the firm was down to 35 UK staff and did not plan further cuts, adding: “We’ve squeezed it as much as we can. We’ve got a smaller team but hope to build on that.”
Althams Travel managing director Sandra McAllister said reduced hours were “not ideal” but that “staff know they will be rewarded once normality returns.”
Miles Morgan Travel chairman Miles Morgan said it was “too early to call” but had “no plans to make redundancies”. He added: “Our strategy is to fight our way out of this. Everything is on the table.”
The Travel Village Group managing director Phil Nuttall predicted industry redundancies would be “a massive problem that the government is blinkered to.”
Polka Dot Travel and Kuoni said early decisions to cut staff at the start of the pandemic meant they could avoid further job losses.
Polka Dot director Mark Johnson said: “We have drastically reduced staff numbers and are in fact now looking at recruitment to get all the shops open as we want to go into January in a strong position. I believe cutting staff costs early was a sensible business decision.
“If businesses haven’t made any staff cuts I have no doubt they will have to as the business is simply not there to steer them through the winter.”
Kuoni said it had planned for the end of furlough ‘for some time now’. A spokeswoman added: “We made some tough decisions last year. We have no plans to reduce our headcount further.”