Hays Travel, the company that saved the jobs of thousands of Thomas Cook staff, has said that it will now have to cut 878 jobs as the Coronavirus pandemic had slowed down air travel and holidays abroad.
Owners John and Irene Hays have said they are “devastated” that staff are facing job losses and in case of the former Thomas Cook employees, for the second time in two years.
Speaking to the BBC the couple said they had done everything they could to protect jobs but Spanish travel restrictions meant hundreds of thousands of holidays have had to be cancelled and refunded.
The job cuts will come from staff in training to be travel consultants and their foreign exchange division. Head office staff, apprentices and experienced travel consultants will not be affected by the cuts.
The couple said they disagreed with the Governments decision to Quarantine people returning from all of Spain and cited this as a major factor in the job cuts as Spain is critical to Hays Travel.
Mr Hays told the BBC that: “The German government’s reaction has been to quarantine people going to the north-east of Spain, but allow people to go to all of the other places I’ve just said, and that’s a much more targeted and sophisticated approach.”
Hays Travel confirmed that staff facing the job losses will include former Thomas Cook staff.
