Stagecoach offers £2,000 golden handshake to PCV license holders in Exeter
Holders of PCV licenses in Exeter have the chance to earn a welcome bonus worth £2,000 when they join Stagecoach. The offer comes as the public transport company looks to bolster its Exeter team with experienced professional drivers. The company is also hiring drivers without experience, but the welcome package only applies to drivers with existing PCV licenses. The aim is to recruit drivers to join its ranks immediately.
Employee perks on the rise
The recruitment campaign reflects a wider move by UK employers to offer perks to employees to increase the number of experienced workers and boost staff retention levels. The job offers drivers in Exeter a range of additional job benefits including a guaranteed minimum of 39 hours a week, access to the company pension and sick pay scheme and free bus travel for the driver, their partner and up to two children. Stagecoach also boosted pay for its drivers at the beginning of 2022, giving employees a 10% pay rise during a cost of living crisis with soaring inflation and increased heating costs.
The scheme demonstrates the continuing appeal of offers and bonuses in a range of sectors. Customers of various businesses are not excluded from these benefits with widespread offers across the retail and entertainment industry.
Standing out in a competitive market
Customers of Costa Coffee can join Costa Club, which comes with a range of perks including a free cake on your birthday, a free in-store drink once you have purchased eight drinks along with exclusive rewards. The British coffeehouse chain is not alone in trying to build customer loyalty through incentives, with a selection of customer loyalty cards on the market.
Companies in highly competitive industries must strive to not just attract, but also retain customers. In the iGaming sector, mFortune Casino offers a wide range of offers to customers, including a welcome bonus and a first deposit match bonus for new players and ongoing rewards such as the refer-a-friend bonus, loyalty rewards and free-to-enter social media competitions via Facebook. In all industries, these incentives help to differentiate the products on offer and ensure that customers continue to come back for more.
In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer provides customer benefits through its Sparks loyalty card. The scheme gives customers personalised offers, along with random free gifts to members and the chance to receive their shopping for free.
Tech industry removing employee perks
However, while companies are striving to offer benefits to customers and employees alike, the generosity of Stagecoach comes at a time when the technology industry, once known for the generosity of its employee perks, is phasing out benefits for its workers. The list of treats included laundry service, free meals and at Google, employees could benefit from massage credits. But with the share price of tech firms taking a tumble, leading to job cuts, companies in the sector have also axed a range of perks.
With vacancies at UK companies at a record high, Stagecoach has acted quickly to secure the services of experienced drivers. We are likely to see the move replicated by other companies in the search for employees.
