Candidates looking for a new travel job had more options available to them last month than at any point since early 2007.
The latest Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment and Chisholm & Moore Executive Recruitment reveals that, after reaching a seven-year high in October 2014, January’s total number of new travel vacancies rose again to hit its highest level since March 2007.
There was also a strong annual increase in the number of people searching for new roles, with January 2015 seeing nearly 25% more candidates registering than in the same month last year.
C&M/Chisholm & Moore Executive Recruitment director Barbara Kolosinska said: "It’s an understatement to say that January was a busy month for the travel jobs market – companies made more jobs available last month than at any point for nearly eight years. What a great start to 2015.
"We also saw a huge increase in new job seekers, with the number of new candidate registrations rising well above the average level for the previous 12 months.
"With annual increases in both the number of new travel roles and job seekers, it looks like the travel recruitment market could be in for a very busy few months."
It wasn’t all good news in January, however, as average salaries for new travel roles fell back compared to the 20-month high in December.
However, January 2015’s average of £25,652 was still significantly up compared to that seen in January 2014.
The dip was mainly a result of the fall in salaries seen in the north of the UK, where the average travel salary fell to its lowest level since last March.
"Salaries for new travel jobs dipped in January, but it is worth remembering that the previous month saw one of the Index’s highest figure in the past two years," added Kolosinska.
"Travel salaries remain considerably above the 2014 average, so job seekers currently have a great variety of attractive roles available to them."
