School-age children are being targeted through their parents in a recruitment push by travel agent Thomas Cook.
The firm took out adverts in the Mail on Sunday earlier this month pitched at parents of would-be applicants to consider a career in the travel industry. It is believed to be the first of its kind, and follows an announcement in June by rival Going Places to hire 500 school leavers.
“We are doing these adverts to target mums and dads,” said Thomas Cook HR development manager Colin Dalby. “They ask if your son or daughter is interested in travel and in starting a new career.”
The copy goes on to describe the training facilities and opportunities for promotion.
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Thomas Cook stressed that it does not have a bias towards youth. Its recent “rock and roll years” campaign targeted those who were young in the 1950s. It also encourages branches to display vacancies in shop windows to lure people with retail experience from other high street outlets.
The company needs to recruit around 1,000 people a year, from its complement of 8,000.
