Superyacht Report 2022

Faststream Recruitment and Yotspot have collaborated for the sixth consecutive year to create a unique Superyacht survey to expose and highlight key trends about topics such as life onboard, career, rewards and benefits, crew health and well-being, and the perception versus the reality of a career in yachting.

Our survey has highlighted that although superyacht itineraries are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels and gaining huge momentum again, the priorities of crew members have shifted during the pandemic and Captains will have to consider these priorities to attract the best crew to join their teams.

As the global vaccination programme has become more widespread across the globe, we uncover how yacht crew feel about their careers in yachting. The survey shows that work-life balance is the biggest motivator to change jobs for over a third of superyacht crew, followed closely by limited career progression opportunities.

These are among the findings of our landmark survey which polled more than 500 working superyacht crew worldwide on attitudes to their careers and the superyacht industry.

"If Captains and yacht owners are looking to entice new crew and retain their current crew, it appears more needs to be done to ensure that the right programmes are in place to support career progression," says Mark Charman, CEO and Founder of Faststream Recruitment.

Amongst other findings, 81% of superyacht crew are motivated to work to their full potential each day but understanding the priorities of crew members when it comes to work-life balance and establishing positive crew cultures onboard will be crucial for Captains wanting to maintain these motivation levels and improve the welfare of their teams.

We also uncovered that:

73% of superyacht crew agree that their relationships with other crew members matter to them
67% of the world’s superyacht crew have been headhunted for a new job in the last 12 months
89% of the world’s superyacht crew would recommend a career in yachting
60% of superyacht crew agree that job satisfaction is more important than pay and benefits
Nearly half of the world’s superyacht crew see the pay and benefits that they receive increasing over the next two years
40% of superyacht crew agree that the expectations of a crew member's image is unrealistic

We wanted to uncover how the crew working onboard the world’s most luxurious superyachts perceive the promotion of yachting careers. We asked, ‘Do you think social media and reality TV, related to yachting are misleading to a career in yachting?’ 78% agreed that they were misleading.

“Although not entirely representative, TV and social media related to a career in yachting have been valuable in promoting yachting careers to the wider world. It has encouraged people to consider yachting as a career path when they may not have before. It has also been a gateway for the crew’s families and friends to get some idea of what their working life is like,” says Steve Crawford.

“We hope that these insights will help employers adapt some of their employment policies around life onboard, work-life balance and the reward and benefits that matter to crew members, which will be vital to retaining and attracting the world’s superyacht crew,” says Steve Crawfordand Daryl Bradley, Co-Directors of Yotspot.