The collected data indicates that 70.4% of surveyed agents are currently employed, with the remaining 29.6% indicating that they’re currently unemployed and actively seeking work. The 29.6% unemployed reported that 45.4% have been out of work for over 1 year, 13.1% for 6-12 months, 29.2% for 1-5 months and 12.3% have been looking for under a month.
NEW EGYPT, NJ – HotTravelJobs.com, a leading job resource site for the travel industry released their most recent findings from site’s Travel Agent Survey.
The employer survey which was conducted and released in late 2014 brought concerns about future recruiting needs. “We felt it was appropriate to collect feedback from both employees and job seekers to address those concerns for employers said Doug Walsh, Director of Sales & Marketing for Hot Travel Jobs.”
In an effort to better understand the travel industry from the ground up, Hot Travel Jobs conducted a survey from August to November of 2015, collecting responses from both employed and unemployed Travel Agents. The purpose of this survey was to understand the conditions agents are facing in the industry as it deals with employment. The number of respondents totaled 477, with 43.4% being Corporate Agents, 30.8% Leisure agents and 16.8% which worked as both corporate & leisure. While 9% were classified as other.
In keeping with this, the collected data indicates that 70.4% of surveyed agents are currently employed, with the remaining 29.6% indicating that they’re currently unemployed and actively seeking work.
The 29.6% unemployed reported that 45.4% have been out of work for over 1 year, 13.1% for 6-12 months, 29.2% for 1-5 months and 12.3% have been looking for under a month.
The results speak volumes about the industry, but for brevity’s sake we will focus now on the most pertinent information we gained from this study.
It’s no secret that for the past few years, the travel industry has been facing a looming crisis in regards to the general age of employed or seasoned professional travel agents. As per the reserach findings, it can show the following data:
- 67.8% of respondents indicated they were 45 years of age, or older
- 19.6% of respondents were between 35-44 years of age.
- 12.6% of respondents were 20-35 years of age
With respect to respondent’s amount of industry experience, the following was noted:
- 10 or more years in the industry 78.3%
- 8-10 years 4.8%
- 4-7 years 7.9%
- 1-3 years 9%
In the question how long they have been employed by their current employer. The response was:
- 10 or more years 25.1%
- 5-9 years 15.3%
- 1-4 years 44%
- Less than 1 year 15.6%
More telling however, is the response that reflects the employee’s willingness to leave for a better opportunity. The research shows that 94.7% of respondents would be willing to leave their current position if an opportunity became available. Breaking this data down further to 48.6% would leave in general, 23.7% willing to leave if the pay was better, 10.3% if benefits were better and 12.1% would negotiate with their current employer first. The remaining 5.3% indicated their unwillingness to leave their job.
When asked about their level of their satisfaction with their compensation, the results are as follows:
- 23.1% felt their compensations was above average
- 36.6% responded average
- 32.8% felt their compensation was below average
In regards to satisfaction with their hours, 79% of respondents replied that their work hours were average or better while 14.7% responded negatively.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
