The Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world. Businesses have been forced to close and concerns have been raised that it could take years for the global economy to recover. The travel industry is among the worst affected. For instance, as nations impose bans on international travel, airlines, cruises and other firms in the travel industry have been forced to scale back operations with many asking their employees to work from home. A review of how this industry has been affected shows that employees have lost the little power that they had.
In the past, employees in the travel industry did not have much power. For example, it was not uncommon for airline pilots and crew to resort to industrial action as part of their efforts to improve their employment relationship. Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened this situation. Already, a number of airlines have warned that they will be forced to lay off thousands of workers (Carlisle, 2020). Basically, such firms as airlines are compelled to choose between their long-term survival and the wellbeing of their employees. Most are choosing the former.
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Employers and employees are the main actors in employment relationships (Calveley et al., 2017). Essentially, in exchange for the labor that they provide, employees receive wages from their employers based on some criteria. Today, thanks to the Covid-19, the roles of the two actors have remained largely unchanged. For instance, airline employees still rely on their employers to pay them. More and more airlines are asking their employees to take unpaid leave. There is no question that this pandemic has made both employers and employees vulnerable.
The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly shifted the balance of power among employers and workers in the travel industry. While the employers have gained even greater power, workers are now even more powerless. For instance, as noted above, many workers have been forced to take unpaid leave. Furthermore, there are some travel companies that are reluctant to allow their employees to work from home, exposing them to the risk of contracting the covid-19 virus. This pandemic has essentially exposed the fact that workers in the travel industry have always been at the mercy of their employers.
The current employment relationship in the travel industry is aligned with the pluralist perspective. Basically, this perspective holds that the various actors in employment relationships have divergent priorities and interests, and each actor strives to maximize the benefit that they derive from the relationship (Calveley et al., 2017). The travel companies and their employees do not have shared goals as the Covid-19 crisis has made clear. On the one hand, the companies wish to remain profitable. On the other hand, workers desire to earn decent wages. To guarantee these wages, the firms need to forgo some profit. Today, in response to Covid-19, such firms as airlines are taking drastic measures to safeguard their profitability and survival. For example, many have asked employees to take paid leave with some warning that they will have to downsize. These measures come at the expense of the workers.
The travel industry appears to be more neo-corporatist. Essentially, neo-corporatism stipulates that when making decisions, firms need to consider applicable laws and the government plays a crucial role in shaping the employment relationship. Furthermore, in neo-corporatist industries, trade unions wield tremendous influence. What makes the travel industry neo-corporatist is that trade unions are aggressive in their representation of workers and government legislation such as minimum wage laws affect the industry (Sirakaya & Caliskan, 2007). For instance, as noted earlier, pilots and crew have downed their tools in the past to demand better pay and improved working conditions.
It is sad that employees in the travel industry have little to no real power. They are unable to influence the pay that they receive or the conditions in which they work. However, the Covid-19 pandemic could empower employees by challenging companies to take strategic human resource management (SHRM) seriously. For example, companies are embracing work-from-home initiatives as part of efforts to ensure continuity. Such policies could become mainstream as firms recognize the cost and productivity benefits that they present. There is no question that the Covid-19 crisis will have far-reaching and long-term effects on the employment relationship in the travel industry. Among these effects is that the crisis will challenge companies to understand the need to adopt programs that cushion their employees when serious crises strike. For example, firms could offer paid leave to minimize the economic impact of the crises on their employees.
References
Calveley, M., Allsop, D., Lawton, N. R., & Huesmann, M. (2017). Managing the employment relationship. In Rees, G., & Smith, P. E., Strategic human resource management: an international perspective. 2 nd Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Carlisle, M. (2020). As Coronavirus Spreads, U.S. Travel Providers Are Cutting Back Their Services. Here's How That's Impacting Transportation Workers . Time. https://time.com/5802661/coronavirus-cancellations-workers/
Sirakaya, E., & Caliskan, A. (2007). The likely effects of planned minimum wage hikes for the tourism industry in the US. E-Review of Tourism, 5 (1), 1-3.
