Salaries on the Rise, Again

SALARIES ON THE RISE, AGAIN!!!
(Article created for Travel Industry Trade Press)

New York, Jason King, President of Yours In Travel Personnel, the nation's largest source of recruitment for the travel industry announced, "Salaries are on the rise again."

"The apparent dry spell which travel agencies are experiencing in sourcing qualified candidates, has upped the salary again", said King.

"The bigger get bigger and can pass on their cost to many of their clients, while the medium sized travel agencies are trying to combat the latest airline travesty concerning the recent announcement of UA and others (see article TW 11/26/98-Cover Story). The smaller agencies will once again be the big losers."

King said, "We are busier than ever, accepting orders from all over the United States for all types of agents, both Corporate & Leisure. Even secondary city locations are paying salaries equivalent to the major cities.

"This week we accepted an order for a Senior VIP Agent in the NY Area, and the firm said, 'We will pay the 'top dollar' to find that special candidate! The salary, believe it or not, has been set between $50,000-$55,000 possibly to go even higher. Some managers don't make these kind of numbers", said King.

"Although Yours In Travel raised its fees last March (March 1997) we have added many 'value added programs', such as drug testing, criminal & credit checks, IQ testing, and integrity surveys. While no company enjoys paying high recruitment fees....today some companies are begging us to place them in a 'Priority Position'. Our priority accounts have always been our Exclusive Accounts, but today we are sourcing the talent very quickly".

"WARNING !!! If you see a candidate you like, you'd better offer them a position immediately or you will lose them totally," King added.

"Talented agents with current CRS experience, especially on-site experience, and who have been in their present job for at least 3 years, are moving very quickly. This is their time to jump into some serious money. Recent candidates we have placed in the mid-west, for example, have jumped their pay from $19,000 to $28,000; from $28,000 to $39,000; and others have gone as high as $42,000. Here in the New York Tri-state area, salaries have also skyrocketed. The norm, today, for a corporate agent with the above mentioned qualifications, can be a salary of $42,000 -$45,000. If you have some supervisory experience, the salary you can expect here will be $45,000 to $55,000, and Managers can go as high as $65,000 dependent, of course, on their individual experience and longevity on their present job! Director of Operations for a medium/large, but not a Mega, is $75,000 to $90,000 It is truly unbelievable even to us," said King.

"1999 and Beyond, who knows...Salaries will probably flatten out somewhat, but once the roller coaster starts, it is hard to stop. Now is the time Travel Agencies throughout North America must decide how and where they wish to place themselves - as a 'Player' or as a 'Will Wait and See-er". The answer is not always as easy as stated in your cover story (mentioned above). Laying off personnel is not the key. Getting more business and charging the proper service charges is a smarter direction."

King is offering a New Promotion for 1999, effective immediately for new clients. The promotion is called "Try Us!". "Companies are urged to place their most difficult search with us. If we cannot source a qualified candidate, according to the clients specifications, the next two placements will be discounted."

"Yours in Travel currently maintains a database of over 1 Million Candidates Worldwide. We are currently upgrading our in-house propriety automation system which will allow us to read 100,000 documents in less than 30 seconds and automatically, through key words and internal phases, place these candidates in their proper category/occupation code. This new and upgraded system will allow us to handle even a higher number of requests on a daily basis," said King.

"Our web site is currently generating between 16,000 - 38,000 job candidates per month, so our new upgrade system will be able to handle even more traffic."

Yours In Travel Personnel will be celebrating their 27th year this January serving the Travel Industry. For more information you can visit their web site at www.yoursintravel.com

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