Kuoni to support departing staff with Talent Finder initiative

“This is a crisis unlike any other and while it seems counter intuitive to be promoting our staff to other employers, it’s a commitment we’re making to support the exceptional individuals who are sadly leaving us," said Derek Jones, chief executive of Kuoni parent Der Touristik UK.

“The travel industry has been severely impacted by Covid-19 so for a while, we’re going to need fewer staff. We want to do all we can to support them and find our much-loved colleagues new roles, which is why we’ve created the Kuoni Talent Finder – to promote the skills and experience of these outstanding people who are now open to new opportunities.

“At Kuoni, we’ve always believed our people are the difference, and we’ve taken great care over the years to recruit and train brilliant people who stand out from the crowd, so we know they’ll be an asset to any organisation.

"I urge any business that’s in a position to recruit to take a look at their profiles and snap them up.”

The Talent Finder site – talentfinder.kuoni.co.uk – is divided up into regions, with details for each employee including length of service, role profile, skills and testimonials. The platform, said Kuoni, has been designed to make it as easy as possible for employers to search and review individuals that may be suitable.

It is one of a number of initiatives which have been created to support staff leaving Kuoni as a result of the restructure triggered by the coronavirus crisis.

A sabbatical scheme, whereby staff take unpaid leave until at least June 2021 with either the offer of a return to work if demand for travel has recovered or their redundancy package protected, has been taken up by a number of staff.

The company has also agreed an outplacement support package, which supports people with one-to-one consultations, CV writing, interview skills and re-skilling if they wish to change industries.

“Every job matters, and we have done our upmost to think creatively about how we can protect as many as we possibly can," Jones added.

"Through consulting with our people we’ve come up with ideas together that will either keep people with us, give them the prospect of returning at some point in the future or find employment elsewhere.”