96% من الموظفين الذين تتطلب وظائفهم السفر يتوقون هذا العام إلى استعادة امتيازات السفر
- 23% من المشاركين في الدراسة سيبحثون عن وظيفة جديدة إذا لم يتحسن جدول سفرهم
- سنة 2022 غيّرت مشهد سفر الأعمال
خاص - وكالة البيارق الإعلامية
مستويات سفر الأعمال الحالية تهدد الرضا الوظيفي
عودة سفر الأعمال يدعو إلى إجراء تعديل في السياسة
أقسام السفر في المؤسسات تواجه ضغوطًا جديدة
New Global Research Considers 2022 Impact on Business Travel
Written by: Gabriele
Indrieri, VP & Managing Director for SAP Concur EMEA South
The return of business travel
has major implications for talent attraction and retention,
this is according
to the initial findings from the fourth annual Global Business Traveller Report commissioned by SAP Concur.
But who are these global
business travelers at risk of attrition, what are their expectations, and why
is travel volume so closely tied to job satisfaction?
Current Levels of Business
Travel Are Threatening Job Satisfaction
Nearly all global business
travelers (96%) are eager to reclaim the advantages of travel this year. These
include personal benefits such as experiencing new places and cultures, going
out to dinners and events, and simply taking a break from everyday life.
When it comes to business benefits, nearly
half of the travelers want to restore relationship-building opportunities from
in-person connections and look forward to the productivity of in-person
meetings.
However, three in five
business travelers indicate that their current travel schedule is falling short
of their expectations. Many say a change in corporate travel direction may be
to blame, with 82% reporting that their company is returning to pre-pandemic
levels but with a “more travel on fewer shoulders” approach.
This has resulted in nearly a
quarter of business travelers not traveling at their ideal frequency with 23%
indicating that they’ll look for a new position if their travel schedule
doesn’t improve, especially when it comes to the Gen Z cohort (at 35%). This is
compared to 24% of millennials, 20% of Gen X, and 16% of baby boomers.
The Return of Business Travel
Calls for a Policy Reshuffle
It is important to note that
business travelers’ expectations remain largely unchanged from 2021. This year,
91% consider some flexible travel and booking options as essential for their
company to allow to protect their health and safety when they travel for
business—compared to 89% in 2021.
In addition to this, business
travelers feel empowered to decline a trip if it doesn’t match their
expectations or comfort level. Safety concerns for traveling to certain parts
of the world is the most common reason that they’d decline a business trip,
with over half of business travelers saying they’d do so. In fact, 84% of
business travelers say their business travel has been impacted by the war in
Ukraine.
Half of business travelers are willing to decline a business trip their company assigns if they have COVID-19 related health concerns about it. A quarter of business travelers are willing to refuse a business trip if they’re feeling burnt out with travel and need a break, with a quarter declining a trip if it required using non-sustainable travel options.
However, given the power
dynamics in today’s labor market, business travelers intend to ask for more in
order to accept a position that requires more travel: 92% say they’d need
additional salary, benefits, or travel flexibility to make a move.
While nearly three in five
would want a larger salary and bonus to take a position that requires more
travel than their current one, others could be attracted by benefits to make
their work more enjoyable. Nearly two in five business travelers (39%) would
need additional vacation time, an almost as many (37%) want the ability to work
from home as a lure.
Successfully attracting executives to
positions requiring additional travel may take more than higher salaries and
bonuses. In fact, little more than half of executive-level business travelers
would take a position with more travel based on this perk (51%).
Travel Departments Face New
Pressures in a Turbulent Landscape
The travel industry has had
myriad challenges in 2022, including lingering health and safety concerns
associated with COVID-19, increasing travel costs, and rampant travel
cancellations and delays. Business travelers are more concerned about travel
cancellations and delays (61%) than the typically dreaded task of filing the
expense report for their trip (39%).
In turn, we’ve seen a noted
shift in stress levels before, during, and after business travel. Nearly two in
five global business travelers say that during the trip is the most stressful stage
of travel—a seven-point increase from the 31% of business travelers who said
this in 2021.
All surveyed travel managers
expect their role to be more challenging in the next 12 months compared to last
year. And more than half of travel managers say their job is already as
stressful or more now than during the previous year. Many believe the stress is
caused by increased scrutiny from above, through increasing pressure from
senior leadership to demonstrate the ROI of their role.
Forty-nine percent of travel managers anticipate challenges adjusting to frequent staffing changes, and 47% anticipate the challenge of accommodating more travelers in secondary markets and smaller towns. Half of travel managers (50%) say the increasing number of expense reports will add challenges to their job in the coming year, and two in five (40%) say the same about increasing travel volume. Nearly as many travel managers predict challenges from reduced travel budgets (39%) and adjusting to staffing changes in their department (36%).
Year-over-year changes in
business travelers’ stress levels are some of the most telling findings about
the state of business travel. They remind us that industry challenges aren’t
theoretical. In these moments of change—the pandemic, the Great Resignation,
and inflation—the impacts are very real, and global business travelers are
feeling and experiencing them directly.”
This year’s survey also offers insights into sustainability
trends, generational differences among business travelers, and more. For more
information, please take a look at our Global
Business Traveller Report for more
information.
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