The number of new job vacancies in the travel industry more than doubled in January, but C&M Travel Recruitment’s managing director has argued that companies are “taking too long” to make decisions and then missing out on quality candidates.
The specialist travel recruitment business has reported that the number of vacancies rose by 111% last month compared with December, resulting in the highest total since August.
Yet January was a less successful month for job placements – the number of people hired rose by 4% compared with December, but the figure was 56% below the level seen in January 2023 and down by 41% compared with January 2022 and January 2020.
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Barbara Kolosinska (pictured), C&M Travel Recruitment’s managing director, said: “We need to see a rise in job placements. Some companies are still taking too long to make decisions and are missing out on quality applicants, while others are severely limiting the available talent pool by not widening their recruitment requirements.”
Although the number of travel vacancies rose last month, reaching the highest total in five months, the tally was still down by 38% compared with January 2023. That year had a “very strong start”, C&M Travel Recruitment said.
The number of candidates searching for new travel jobs rose by 81% last month compared with December, but the figure was 14% lower than in January 2023.
Last month’s total was 15% higher than in January 2022 and down by 2% on the pre-pandemic month of January 2020.
Kolosinska said: “We would always expect to see a big monthly increase in activity each January – and last month we saw just that.
“New travel job opportunities more than doubled in the month – which is great news for job seekers – and there was also a big 81% rise in new candidates, which will be very much welcomed by employers.”