Travelodge targets students with 3,000 posts

Budget hotel chain Travelodge has launched what it says is the first programme of its kind, a “bespoke” offering for students that works around their degree requirements – looking to fill 3,000 such jobs between now and the summer.

The one of a kind scheme offers term and holiday work  with 50 roles in Scotland. Picture: Greg Macvean.

The dual workplace student recruitment programme offers flexible working hours designed around the student’s study programme in their university and home locations. Up for grabs are 2,200 permanent positions and 800 summer season jobs across the UK, including 50 in Scotland.

The chain said it comes as 235,000 students are struggling to make ends meet, while the hospitality industry is looking to plug Brexit-related staffing shortages. Roles will include within receptions, restaurants and housekeeping.

The hotel chain operates more than 560 UK hotels including 45 north of the Border, and said it has sites close to most of the UK’s major universities and colleges “giving students easy access to work at a Travelodge close to where they study and then transfer their job to a hotel closer to home during the holidays”.

Travelodge also said the initiative offers a work buddy and participants will be eligible to join the company’s Aspire management programme so that students can expand their skill set whilst studying.

The business noted the high cost of university education, adding that eight out of ten students in Scotland have to work part time in order to survive. If somebody studying worked around 24 hours a week at Travelodge they could earn around £10,000 a year, enough to meet average living expenses, it stated.

The scheme also supports Travelodge’s parents’ programme that was unveiled earlier this year as the business reported an 8.8 per cent growth in revenue in 2018, and was seeking to open 100 new sites by 2023, creating more than 3,000 jobs.

Regarding its latest initiative, the hotel chain surveyed 1,500 of its student employees. Key findings included 62 per cent of students in Scotland working eight to 24 hours per week to make ends meet. Additionally, about half of studying adults in Scotland reported that working was essential in order to fund their studying.

Travelodge chief executive Peter Gowers said: “Our new student programme gives you flexibility during your studies and the potential to build a longer-term career after graduation – a better way to earn while you learn.”

The group said in March that it was actively searching for a further 21 hotel sites across Scotland, as it launched its 45th hotel north of the Border.