Majority of agents fear for their jobs

Monday, 19 Aug, 2020 0

More than half of people working in travel are worried they’ll be made redundant as an increasing number of UK companies announce they’re shedding jobs due to the slump in business caused by Covid-19.

Already, more than 730,000 people across the UK have been made redundant since the start of the pandemic, with travel and tourism one of the hardest hit sectors.

Widescale redundancies have been announced at British Airways, easyJet and Kuoni amongst others.

Hays Travel announced 900 jobs were to go last week, blaming a further downturn in travel following the reintroduction of travel restrictions to Spain. Since then, the government has reintroduced restrictions for travel to other popular holiday destinations including France, Malta and the Netherlands.

In the latest TravelMole poll, 52% said a travel industry employees said they were afraid they would lose their jobs. The results came in the week that Jet2 announced it was making 102 pilots redundant.

Further bad news was announced today when the Stobart Group revealed it might have to make redundancies due to easyJet’s decision to close its bases at Southend and Stansted airports, where it offers ground handling services. EasyJet is also shutting down its Newcastle base.

Travel industry workers are braced for more bad news as coronavirus cases continue to climb across Europe, prompting the government to consider adding more countries to its no-go list. There is speculation in the industry that travel restrictions will be reintroduced this week for Croatia, where the rate of new cases has been increasing for several weeks, which is likely to cause a further slump in bookings.

Announcing its financial results for the last quarter last week, TUI revealed it had lost €1.1 billion over the past three months alone, bringing its nine-month losses to €2 billion.

It said it had lost 81% of its business for this summer and for the coming winter it has cut its overall capacity by 40%.

However, it said bookings for next summer are up 145%, with prices up 9%.

ABTA Lifeline revealed earlier this month that it has partnered with employment agency People 1st International to help those working in travel find alternative careers. Other industries they could consider, says the agency, include funerals, social care, logistics and retail.

By Linsey McNeill, Editor (UK)

Linsey McNeill

Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk

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