Addressing the conference, C&M Travel Recruitment managing director Barbara Kolosinska outlined the severe recruitment challenges faced by businesses throughout the travel sector.

“There’s a huge talent shortage owing to pent-up demand after the pandemic and the loss of staff who did not feel confident working in travel anymore," she told delegates.

"It’s a jobseekers’ market, which has led to counter offers for the best candidates. The good news is that 6.5 million Brits are expected to leave their current company in the next 12 months so we will get that churn. But we do need to focus on how to retain staff as a sector – they are our biggest cost, but also our biggest asset.”

Holiday Extras lost a third of its workforce during the pandemic, but the tide has turned and the business is now on a massive recruitment drive according to national retail manager Lindsay Garvey-Jones. “We’ve just had the best year in our 40-year history," she told delegates. "We had a promise [when we had to let people go] that we’d invite them back when we started to recover and we’ve welcomed back plenty.”

Garvey-Jones said the company was using more innovative, diverse and inclusive ways to recruit, such as through TikTok videos and job board postings on Pink News. “We’re showcasing career paths, not just jobs," she continued. "We’re investing in Holiday Extras as a brand.”

Garvey-Jones revealed technology and software development roles were proving the hardest to fill: “These roles were in high demand in the pandemic and the salaries went sky high, which we can’t compete with," she added.
Kolosinska stressed she did not think recruitment for tech roles was set to get any easier.

’All sorts of traps’

Ian Hopkinson, head of litigation at mbLaw, pointed out that managing staff was one of the most difficult aspects of running a company. His company has been advising travel firms, and dealing with both sides of the coin – employees who want to more freedom to work from home, but also businesses who wish to cut overheads but are finding staff reluctant to work from home.

“There are all sorts of traps to fall into," he warned. "The equality act, the legal right to request flexible working. Whatever you do, consult in a reasonable way,” he advised.