New travel job vacancies fell to their lowest level for 22 months in December, which was the slowest month of the year for recruitment in the industry.
According to data from C&M Travel Recruitment, new travel job vacancies last month dropped by 39% from December 2021 to hit the lowest level since February 2021.
The number was also down by 58% from the pre-pandemic month of December 2019.
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Similarly, the number of candidates being placed in new travel jobs dropped to an annual low last month, falling by 40% from November. The figure was 10% down on 2019 and 30% down on 2018.
However, last month saw a surge in new candidates totalling 6% higher than in the same month in 2021 and 7% higher than in 2019.
Managing director Barbara Kolosinska (pictured) acknowledged December saw a “big dip in activity”, but said 2022 marked a “hug recovery” for travel recruitment and January is looking like a “much stronger month” so far.
“As expected, December was the slowest month of the year for travel recruitment,” she said.
“The holiday distractions and the fact that many people simply take a well earned break from work for a considerable amount of time at the end of the year always results in a big dip in activity.
“However, this shouldn’t diminish the fact that 2022 has marked a huge recovery for travel recruitment from both 2021 and the depths of 2020.
“And, thankfully, January is already looking like a much stronger month with many excellent new roles being made available across the industry.”