This week, a former colleague reached out and told me that she is retiring a year ahead of schedule. She chose 6/30/21 as her last day because that is the day the "travel moratorium" ends for her company. She is not interested in traveling anymore.
I've been a consultant since 2014, and one of the expectations has always been that we have to be able to travel if requested by the client. I've had west-coast travel to a client in California and east-coast travel to a client in Baltimore. My typical travel schedule would be to leave on Sunday and return on Thursday, though I have traveled Monday to Friday as well.
Travel expenses are paid for by the client. I have the option to use the company credit card or I can use my own credit cards and then submit the expenses for reimbursement. I like the second option because I can get all the points.
I think July is rather early to call "all-clear" on business travel. My client in California is not expecting to start bringing employees back into the office until the fall at the earliest. Who knows what the expectation will be for consultants.
The game has changed. If and when I am asked to travel again for work, it will not be an automatic yes from me. The client gets its 40 hours per week whether I'm onsite or remote. My company also gets its cut regardless. I'm the only one who loses in the deal because traveling takes away a lot of my personal time. I value my time more than money.
I've been a consultant since 2014, and one of the expectations has always been that we have to be able to travel if requested by the client. I've had west-coast travel to a client in California and east-coast travel to a client in Baltimore. My typical travel schedule would be to leave on Sunday and return on Thursday, though I have traveled Monday to Friday as well.
Travel expenses are paid for by the client. I have the option to use the company credit card or I can use my own credit cards and then submit the expenses for reimbursement. I like the second option because I can get all the points.
I think July is rather early to call "all-clear" on business travel. My client in California is not expecting to start bringing employees back into the office until the fall at the earliest. Who knows what the expectation will be for consultants.
The game has changed. If and when I am asked to travel again for work, it will not be an automatic yes from me. The client gets its 40 hours per week whether I'm onsite or remote. My company also gets its cut regardless. I'm the only one who loses in the deal because traveling takes away a lot of my personal time. I value my time more than money.
"But that's the only way to get work done" just won't work anymore.
The problem is the entire office work infrastructure - commercial real estate and the like - are going to lobby for a return to that lifestyle because that's what gets their business going. But now everybody knows that wasting tens of hours a week on office commutes is a sham and that more work gets done remotely.
who has time for cooking!???