878 Jobs To Be Lost At Hays Travel
Hays Travel, which is run by husband and wife team John and Irene Hays has today announced they are cutting 878 jobs. The high street travel agency who came to the rescue of Thomas Cook staff who were made redundant after the company was badly run for many years have said they feel so sad they have to make job cuts.
The Sunderland based company which employs 4,500 people after taking on 2,000 former Thomas Cook employees are struggling like many other travel companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
John and Irene have said the job cuts are a result of the Spanish travel restrictions which saw hundreds of thousands of holidays cancelled.
They were “devastated” staff would lose jobs “through no fault of their own,” the couple said.
The couple gave a joint statement on the news where they explained job cuts is the last thing they ever wanted to do and was the last thing they thought they would be forced to do.
“we have made every possible effort to protect the jobs of all our staff including those who were employed when Hays Travel took on the Thomas Cook shops last October.”
Hays Travel have said it was now consulting with 344 staff training as travel consultants and the 534 who work in the foreign exchange division.
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John and Irene have said that experienced travel sale staff, head office staff and apprentices would not be affected by the cuts.
“We are devastated that after all of our efforts and the huge investment we’ve made we now face losing some of our valued employees, through no fault of their own.
“Following the decision to ban travel to Spain and the changes in furlough conditions coming at the same time, we have had no choice,” it added.
This sad news from Hays Travel could just be the start. Other travel companies and airlines have announced major job cuts, but many believe that if the restrictions continue then more travel jobs could be lost. TUI, known as the biggest travel company in the UK could be forced to reduce their workforce even further. Travel experts have predicted that holidaynmakers will be affected in the long run with holiday prices increasing to cover the loss, which has been backed by our own life and style senior editor Tim Ellis.
