South Korean travel agencies are moving fast to expand their workforce as travel demand ramps up after years of Covid-19 disruption.

According to industry sources on Monday, Hanatour Service Inc., the largest travel company in Korea, will hire more than 100 new employees through an open recruitment in early June, the largest since its inception. The three-digit recruitment figure is twice the hiring in normal years when the company hired 60 to 70 employees a year.

Hanatour Service plans to hold an online and offline recruitment fair next month and start a hiring procedure.

Last year, the company recruited 60 interns in a job opening session that was launched in three years and then converted more than 90 percent of them into full-time employees.

Its employees have shrunk to around 1,200 workers, more than half its pre-pandemic workforce of 2,500. The travel agency aims to increase its workforce by up to 1,500.

Kyowontour Co., another travel company, hired dozens of employees in a largest-ever recruitment in the first quarter. As of May, 258 employees work for the company, up 67 percent from the same period last year when it launched its travel business Travel Easy.

Kyowontour plans to start an open recruitment procedure and hire up to 40 employees.

The recent explosive growth in travel demand has encouraged airlines, as well as travel companies, to hire new employees.

According to the data released by Korea Airports Corp. (KAC), the total number of passengers on international flights soared 1,178 percent on year to reach 13.94 million in the first quarter.

The number of seats offered by domestic airlines also rose 30 percent from a year ago to 19.6 million in the first four months of this year, which is equivalent to around 81 percent of the seats between January and April in 2019.

Low-cost carriers (LCC) have attracted new employees, particularly from Japan and Southeast Asia.

T’way Air Co. has opened various positions at entry and professional levels, including second pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft engineers. The airline has hired flight attendants in two open recruitments since the second half of last year to respond to recovery signs of business following the resumed operations of international flights.

Jin Air Co. has recruited regular workers at entry and experienced levels for 8 divisions, including finance and accounting, and transportation.

Eastar Jet Co., which resumed its flight services in 3 years, offered job openings at both entry and professional levels.

By Shin Ik-su, Oh Soo-hyun, and Han Yubin

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