MYS 2021: Recruiting the Perfect Crew with YPI Crew

With the current pandemic, crew travel has been the most challenging issue to hit recruitment. Facing this challenge head on, Laurence Lewis divulged to us how YPI crew have managed to find quality candidates for yachts during the past eighteen months: "It's been a challenging year... in fact, we have recorded a double digit growth since 2019, which is quite impressive considering 2019 was already a strong year."  

Competition for crew placements is fierce and with a saturated market of green crew members wanting to embark on careers aboard superyachts. Traditionally, female roles have been reserved for interior crew whilst male crew members have often found work on deck: "There has been robust demand since the pandemic, with an 11% growth since 2019. The interior department has absolutely skyrocketed, that's chefs and stewardesses, and in fact together with my colleague Helen who is head of our interior department we are recruiting for ourselves in the company to cope with this huge demand." commented the President. 

Life as a crew member revolves around working long hours and intense seasons, but the renumeration is a large benefit. With the risks of the pandemic hovering over the world of yachting, we wanted to know the answer to a hot question: did YPI Crew see a salary increase to conincide with the added risk of travelling during the height of Covid? "Initially there was a kneejerk reaction, some owners slashed salaries and terminated rotations. However a year and a bit later, salaries are stable and even up for some professions - chefs, engineers, senior stewardesses... so it varies largely."

With so many agencies around at the moment, Laurence provided some welcome advice for navigating the at-times murky waters of crew recruitment. "Our clients come to YPI crew because we have a voice. That's probably my own advice to clients, choose someone who can be your partners and really exchange together. There are so many CVs out there that you need someone to provide quality and do the groundwork."