Salaries for new jobs in the UK business travel industry rose in 2022 as the number of placements surged by 174 per cent compared with 2019, but a shortage of candidates continues to be the “biggest challenge” for the sector.
The latest data from leading recruitment agency C&M Travel Recruitment found that average salaries for new jobs in business travel rose by 2.4 per cent year-on-year to reach £30,241 in 2022. This figure was also 11.5 per cent higher than in 2019.
C&M called 2022 an “impressive year” for business travel recruitment, although the overall sector is still suffering from a post-pandemic shortage of staff, particularly for travel management companies.
Despite a “near record” number of placements for the agency last year, the pool of candidates has still been rising at a slower pace than the number of vacancies in travel.
Across the whole of the travel industry, salaries for new jobs were 11.5 per cent higher in 2022 than during the previous year at £30,617 – slightly higher than the average wage for jobs in the corporate part of the market.
C&M’s figures also showed that while wages for “standard” travel jobs jumped by 17.4 per cent in 2022, pay for more senior roles actually dropped by 6.8 per cent last year to an average of £51,721.
Barbara Kolosinska, C&M’s managing director, called 2022 a “historic year for travel recruitment” after the sector’s suffering during Covid.
“Last year set numerous records for vacancies and job placements, with spring and summer 2022 being the busiest period for travel recruitment that we have ever seen in the past 25 years,” she added. “Almost all companies in the travel industry searched for new employees last year and we're seeing very few signs of this changing as we begin 2023.
“The shortage of talented candidates continues to be the biggest challenge, but with wages increasing and new roles being created every day, the next year will hopefully be another extremely healthy one for travel recruitment.”