Emburse has revealed findings from its “State of Corporate Offsites” survey and report. Of note, corporate offsite meetings strengthen employee connections to their workplaces, allow for networking among colleagues and are growing in budget and frequency, but the new survey of 2,000 U.S. employees exposes a problem: inefficient travel and expense management practices unfairly disadvantage younger employees, who are left with a bill for workplace bonding.
Offsites Build Community and Alignment
Emburse found employees value corporate offsite events because they foster a connection to their workplace and colleagues:
- Eighty-five percent of employees said offsites strengthened their connection to their organization and its goals.
- The top benefit cited by employees was networking with colleagues they don’t often interact with (32 percent), followed by direct communication with leadership (21 percent) and skill-building opportunities (19 percent).
- When asked about their feelings in anticipation of attending a corporate offsite event, the top response by far was excitement (65 percent). Only 4 percent of employees reported a sense of dread.
Improving employee engagement may be why employers are planning offsite gatherings more often. In fact, employees reported attending an average of 2.6 offsite events in 2024, compared to 2.4 in 2019. Most (61 percent) thought their company’s budget had increased in 2024 over the previous year
Younger Employees Pay to Attend
Despite their generally positive view of offsites, employees said the costs of attendance, such as travel incidentals, childcare and new clothes, exacerbated by delayed reimbursements, created a financial burden, particularly for younger employees.
- Over three-quarters (77 percent) of Generation Z respondents and 70 percent of Millennial employees reported a “major” or “some” impact on their personal finances, while the majority (62 percent) of Baby Boomers reported no financial impact.
- Employees in Generation X were split nearly in half, with 54 percent reporting a financial impact.
- Only 25 percent of respondents reported using a corporate card (virtual or physical) to pay for offsite-related expenses, 29 percent said they paid out of pocket and submitted expense reports, while 46 percent said someone else at the organization managed their expenses for them.
Moreover, in a study last year, Emburse found that nearly a quarter of employees had engaged in “revenge spending” by passing off personal purchases as business expenses. Putting an additional financial burden on employees may make those participating in this practice feel justified in their actions.
Other interesting findings from the “State of Corporate Offsites” report include evidence of the growing trend toward “bleisure” travel, where workers combine business travel with personal vacations. Half (50 percent) of respondents said they added vacation or personal travel time to the beginning or end of a corporate offsite. Respondents also indicated an increased focus on comfort, with nearly half (48 percent) saying they fly business class or above to attend corporate offsite events.
Source: Emburse
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