Football-style ‘on loan’ system launched to retain travel talent during downturn

A talent sharing initiative, based on the loan system run by football clubs, has been launched, which aims to retain skilled travel staff so they can return when the industry picks up.

A central network will match travel staff looking for secondments with employers keen to fill interim placements. Staff will be paid a salary and will then be able to return to their original employment when activity picks up again.

It has been set up by Gary Orr and Kevin Brett, founders of TOP Network Group, which launched in October.

Director Gary Orr said: "With the travel industry facing an unprecedented crisis this new TOP Network initiative is aimed at helping keep our travel industry talent retained in the jobs they love and are skilled in, ready for when the travel market returns.

"The concept is very similar to what happens between football clubs when loaning out players for a season.

"In the context of our travel industry, a business may have talented employees they do not want to lose, yet they don’t currently have enough work for them.

"People in the travel industry have amazing transferable skills, such as customer service, product management and digital marketing, and they will be in demand temporarily in other sectors.

"For example, an SEO expert in the travel industry will be able to apply their skills on a secondment in online retail, and then return to their travel industry job when activity picks up again."

The scheme is powered by the Spacewalk talent sharing platform and the network is free for individuals and companies to register and join.

Upon registering, individuals will be matched to secondment opportunities according to their skills and preferences, including flexible and remote working opportunities. The platform is also free for companies looking to bring in talent, there are no recruitment fees or role posting fees.

Gary added: "We hope this talent sharing facility will be a win-win for all and really want everyone to rally behind this and invite as many companies as possible to join, inside and outside the travel industry.

"It presents huge potential financial savings to companies both loaning out talent and those bringing in talent.

"We encourage companies from all sectors looking to bring staff in for one-12 months to use this network. The more companies that post secondment opportunities to the network, the more that the travel industry stands to benefit".

Lance Stewart, co-Founder of Spacewalk, said, "I previously worked in the UK travel industry at Virgin Holidays and one of the highlights was meeting so many passionate travel industry professionals across the industry.

"I am delighted to now be partnering with TOP Network to offer Spacewalk to benefit the travel industry and its people. Spacewalk also operates in Australia, where we have already seen a strong demand for travel industry staff from the banking and insurance sectors."

Companies and individuals can joinTOP Network Talent Share and start connecting to opportunities by registering here.