Jet2holidays have revealed a new initiative to directly support independent travel agency partners with recruitment and talent development, by providing funding to help fund the salaries of new apprentices for a year.
As part of its new Appoint an Apprentice scheme, the UK’s largest tour operator has revealed that it will provide up to £5,000 to fund the salaries of new apprentices working at independent travel agency partners in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The move comes in response to feedback from some agency partners about the challenge of bringing through the next generation of talent. By providing this direct investment, Jet2holidays is taking action to support independent travel agent partners with their pipeline of talent, and all interested agency partners need to do to apply for funding is visit the company’s dedicated trade site at trade.jet2holidays.com.
This announcement follows Jet2holidays recently revealing a £500,000 Apprenticeship Fund to help independent travel agents develop their workforces.
Following the announcement of 70 new apprentice positions at Jet2.com and Jet2holidays earlier this year, on top of over 100 apprentices already in employment, the tour operator has made almost £500,000 in apprenticeship funds available to independent travel agent partners via a levy transfer.
The levy funds will enable partners to recruit dedicated apprentices into their businesses, meaning they can bring in new talent whilst retaining and developing a highly skilled workforce.
On top of this, the tour operator will now also pay a contribution towards the wages of new apprentices in their first year, whilst helping to provide bespoke training and support to help with their development. Only one apprentice per branch/store is eligible for the salary incentive, however trade partners can request additional levy funding to cover apprenticeship qualifications including funding for existing colleague development. The total number of apprentice roles eligible for the £5,000 salary contribution will be subject to demand.
Today’s announcement is the latest demonstration of Jet2holidays’ continued commitment to investing in independent travel agents through its Partnership to Success strategy.
As well as ensuring that agency partners have all the tools they need to increase sales and grow their businesses, for instance through bespoke marketing campaigns and training programmes, today’s announcement is a significant investment by Jet2holidays into supporting independent travel agents so that they can recruit and develop talent to drive their growth too.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: “Our partnership approach is all about taking tangible actions to support independent travel agents, and today we are putting our money where our mouth is by investing into the next generation of talent at our independent travel agency partners. Apprentices are critical to our own success and growth as a business, and we have really enjoyed seeing apprentices develop and flourish within our company. We know that our valued independent travel agent partners will benefit hugely from this investment in talent too, so we are delighted to be supporting them with funding in this way.
He added: “We believe that by collaborating in this manner, we can foster a stronger, more skilled workforce, and create a brighter future for our industry. At the heart of our Partnership to Success approach is the recognition that our agency partners’ success is our success, and we are very excited about the positive impact this initiative can make. Investing in people is not only a moral imperative, but it is an important strategic step that strengthens the work we do together.”
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays currently have over 150 apprentices on-programme in almost 35 different apprenticeship standards across the business in Finance, Engineering, HR, IT, Marketing, Operations Control, Health & Safety, Ground Operations, Contact Centre and Procurement, ranging from Level 2-7. Over 30 apprentices from across the organisation will be attending Jet2’s second Apprentice Graduation Ceremony later in the year to celebrate their achievements with Senior Directors, Management and their families.
If you are an independent travel agent and are interested in learning more about how you could benefit from working in partnership with Jet2holidays, please visit the company’s dedicated trade site: trade.jet2holidays.com
