YPI CREW have officially announced the release of their annual YPI Crew Report 2021. The report, which gives an overview of key figures in the yacht crew recruitment market, highlights the strong growth seen last year in the yacht crew recruitment sector, including a 45% increase in job requests. In a recent press release, Laurence Lewis, President of YPI Crew stated,

‘2021 was the year of revival for the yachting industry with all key economic indicators turning green. YPI CREW came through the pandemic stronger and this was thanks to our formidable recruiters and employees who showed great agility and adaptability and I would like to record my thanks to them all.’

After the economic contraction of 2020, YPI CREW entered 2021 with a strong ambition to expand and by the end of the year, they had managed to increase their own work force in Antibes by over a third in order to meet the growing demand for crew. This year they will also be celebrating 20 years of trading with further plans to develop the company through partnerships and acquisitions. As far as their activity is concerned compared with pre-pandemic levels, their growth has increased by 13% from 2019 to 2021.

The segments with the sharpest growth were the chef and stew departments, both registering a 57% rise in job orders, closely followed by the engineering department which saw a 50% increase. The demand for deckhands and bosuns grew by 32% and another 3% for senior deck officers. Captain jobs also saw a healthy increase of 20%, which was largely fuelled by a vibrant brokerage market. Speaking with SuperyachtNews, Fiona Murray, Head of the Deckhand and Bosun department at YPI CREW highlighted an exciting development in the industries overall progression,

“We have noted a significant increase in female applicants on the deck crew side of recruitment. There are quite a few role models in the industry now who have paved the way to becoming captains and chief officers, so I think that has really helped inspire young women coming into the industry.”

With regards to the split between private and charter yachts, figures are extremely consistent with the past years; 61% private and 39% on charter. Moreover, some 94% of all jobs were on motor yachts and 6% on sailing yachts, again, completely aligned with previous years. Another consistent percentage is the size of vessels; 39% of all jobs being taken through YPI are on yachts with an LOA of 71 metres or above and 32% on yachts between 51 and 70-metres. 

Parallel to the buoyant job market, new crew registration was also at an all time high with almost 8,000 new crew registering through their platform from all over the world. This represents a 9% increase from 2020. If anything, these figures are a positive message to an industry so often worried about a future lack of crew. There is not only a large community of existing crew but also newcomers looking to enter the yachting world.

Looking forward, 2022 has started on a strong note with the month of January already showing an 80% increase in job requests from January 2021.  YPI CREW believe that captains will rely on the sound advice of knowledgeable recruiters, who understand the market, have a voice and can advise appropriately.

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