A recent survey about business travel provided some insights that might seem shocking to Baby Boomers and Gen X… but downright average to Millennials. The biggest takeaway from the Tripactions survey – which polled 2,900 travelers this June – is that 90% of Millennials see traveling for work as a perk of their jobs.
Again, depending on your age, this might seem ludicrous or perfectly understandable. Sure, if you have kids and a spouse, long work trips can be a major hassle. Regardless of your personal living situation, frequent trips might take a big toll, even and especially if each trip is just a day or two.
But what if you don’t have kids at home, or what if you only travel for work about once a month? Under those circumstances, which are probably common for a lot of Millennial business folk, the occasional work getaway might feel like a vacation or an adventure.
Millennials in general put a high value on travel, so if they can use work trips to see more of the world, get Instagram-able photos, and earn some #adulting bragging rights, who wouldn’t see that as a perk?
But the survey didn’t end there. Unfortunately, Tripactions found that while a lot of young businesspeople see great value in traveling for work, the business travel services offered by their companies rarely satisfy their wants and needs.
For example, 91% of respondents across every age group said that in person meetings are essential for closing business deals. At the same time, 67% of respondents believe that it is difficult to foster meaningful business relationships with video conferencing tools. But despite this enthusiasm for person-to-person business, 64% of respondents claim that they have to fend for themselves when something goes wrong during their business travel. Only 8% said that they have a business travel agent who proactively contacts them when an unexpected travel change occurs. And more than four out of five respondents said that it takes them over an hour to book a work trip.
That’s a huge point of frustration. Younger generations expect their work tools to be just as effective as the ones they use in their personal lives, but the travel liaisons at big and small companies alike are having trouble keeping up.
Fortunately, the team here at Swift is here to help. Our business travel visa services are used by companies ranging from Fortune 500 behemoths to family-owned businesses. Whether you need to be applying for and organizing passport renewals and business travel visas on a weekly basis or simply need help with last minute, unexpected arrangements, we can customize a white-glove service that suits your needs. Check out our corporate passport and visa services page or give us a call to learn more.
