Business Travelers Unpack: The Road To Nowhere

by Robert McGarvey

Regular Brancatelli readers know that Joe is extremely pessimistic about life on the road this year – “crisis” is a common descriptor in his arsenal. So there may be good news for concerned readers in a recent SAP Concur survey that found business travelers grumbling that if their demands aren’t met they just may leave their bags unpacked and stay home.

But the real news is that those numbers are gaining enough bulk to win notice by corporate higher-ups.

SAP Concur warns that the grumbling is so loud and it is coming from so many that there may be resignations: “Sixty-one percent of global business travelers are unhappy with their current travel schedules. Nearly a quarter of them are a flight risk.“

That is, almost 25% are so grumpy they just may be circulating their resumes.

What’s the root of the problem?

The rub, according to SAP Concurs, is that more business travelers have higher expectations about their health and safety when they travel for business. Others have sustainability concerns. Another SAP Concur survey found that 88% of business travelers say they will take steps to reduce their carbon impact if their companies go along. Many business travelers believe their employers just don’t give enough of a hoot about these matters. This is a season of widespread discontent. But it is discontent that appears to be breeding not just grumbles but actions.

Some are choosing to leave their bags unpacked as a result.

“This year’s survey revealed that a degree of unhappiness and anxiety persists among business travelers and travel managers worldwide,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel. 

Various numbers in the survey underline the extent of the unhappiness.

82% of business travelers say their employer is returning to pre-pandemic travel levels with an important difference: fewer people are traveling much more (and many are traveling less). The rainmakers who turn travel into dollars are out on the road and they apparently are staying out there because they keep bringing money in the door.

But 91% want their company to offer more flexibility in travel arrangements due to traveler health and safety concerns.

And 52% say they will decline a business trip if the arrangements don’t satisfy their Covid concerns.

24% say they will decline a trip if it involves non-sustainable travel options.

A bottomline: travel increasingly is seen not as a perk but as a bother and a risky one at that. This fact is illustrated by a startling stat: “travelers aren’t willing to accept a position that requires more travel without added perks: 92% say they’d need additional salary, benefits, or travel flexibility to take a position with more travel.” That is, just about everybody now wants more of something to justify travel. Used to be, many took a job precisely because it afforded lots of travel. Now employees want to be compensated for hitting the road.

Understand, too, increasing numbers of experts believe Covid will be with us a very long time. The good news is that many of the variants seem to be mild – truly flu-like – but quite possibly very contagious. I personally know more people now with active Covid than ever before. Yes, the cases are mild (most tell me they have no symptoms) – but travel in crowded airports and flying on stuffed planes are reliable ways to get Covid. Health and safety concerns on the road are not going to vanish anytime soon.

So the employees who are demanding some flexibility in travel arrangements to up their chances of staying healthy are doing the smart thing.

My advice: do likewise. Don’t accept a trip unless your health is protected. I know I will be doing that.

Incidentally, it’s not just business travelers who are feeling stressed. Traveler managers too are feeling the heat. Noted SAP Concur: “All surveyed travel managers (100%) expect their role to be more challenging in the next 12 months compared to last year, with nearly half (49%) reporting that the stress is coming from above, through increasing pressure from senior leadership to demonstrate the ROI of their role.“

Life on the road just isn’t going to get smoother. Not this summer. Probably not this year.

Keep that bag unpacked.

SAP Concur has a one minute snappy video that succinctly presents the survey finding. Watch it here.