London-based fintech Cleo sent dozens of employees to the European slopes last week, treating them to ample amounts of booze by offering up open bars. File photo / Ross Sneddon, Unsplash
London-based fintech Cleo sent dozens of employees to the European slopes last week, treating them to ample amounts of booze by offering up open bars. File photo / Ross Sneddon, Unsplash
Accustomed to advising some of the world's largest corporations on everything from climate change to leveraged buyouts, EY's cohort of new partners recently went bidding for a different type of client: goblins.
The Big Four accounting and consulting firm last week shipped 2000 staff and their partners to Florida fora jaunt at the Universal Orlando theme park, which included rides on the Harry Potter-themed "Escape From Gringotts" roller coaster – modelled on the bank run by the fictional creatures in the JK Rowling series.
It signifies a reinstating of the corporate jolly that ground to a halt during the pandemic, which exposed the ease of virtual get-togethers. Corporations' environmental footprint, meanwhile, has come under greater scrutiny in recent years, while reported inappropriate incidents that risk reputational damage have made business trips less commonplace.
EY's shindig has raised some eyebrows inside the firm itself, and in London's financial district. A senior partner at a rival accounting firm says he was "surprised" by the size of the party who were also treated to a gala dinner at the Marriott hotel and a fireworks display, adding that such trips are now "difficult to justify" for environmental reasons.
It came despite EY's global chief executive stating last August that once the pandemic subsided, the firm's 312,000 employees would be travelling a lot less to cut down on carbon emissions.
"Once Covid-19 related travel restrictions are lifted, we will be asking our people to think harder about how much they need to fly," said New York-based Carmine Di Sibio.
Big Four accounting and consulting firm EY last week shipped 2000 staff and their partners to Florida for a jaunt at the Universal Orlando theme park. Photo / AP
He added: "For example: could you do the meeting online? Could you make one longer trip instead of making two shorter ones? Could you fly a shorter route to your destination? Are there any lower carbon alternatives you could use, such as a train?"
Di Sibio was one of the attendees at the Orlando event which the firm defended, saying it was "modelled in our plans to be net zero by 2025" and contributed to the EY's "continued return to 'normalcy'".
Yet it has shone a spotlight on whether big-budget foreign trips are being rehabilitated to boost morale amid the 'Great Resignation' after two years of workers labouring from their kitchen tables, with only a handful of companies reverting back to full-time office working.
During the depths of the pandemic, businesses were confined to hosting quizzes and drinks events on Zoom to keep staff on side. Standard Chartered, the FTSE 100 bank, even mulled creating holographic water coolers to help encourage virtual conversations as the lender shifted to permanent hybrid working.
As the threat of Covid fades, there are some green shoots appearing when it comes to large firm-subsidised getaways.
Last week, Jefferies, the US investment bank, sent scores of bankers to Florida for its annual get-together. The lender usually hosts the meeting in its New York offices but this time decided to treat its staff to a more stress-reducing location.
Meanwhile Just Eat Takeaway, the fast food delivery giant, has whisked its staff away to the Alps for a skiing holiday. The company has arranged three separate trips throughout the ski season due to its bulging headcount following Takeaway.com's £6 billion (NZ$11.4b) takeover of Just Eat.
For professional services firms, business travel accounts for more than three quarters of their total carbon emissions, making it an easy target. Photo / alevision.co, Unsplash
Cleo, the London-based fintech, also sent dozens of employees to the European slopes last week, treating them to ample amounts of booze by offering up open bars.
But despite the resurgence of these outings, analysts are still wary to proclaim that corporate jaunts are back with a bang – largely due to climate change concerns.
For professional services firms, business travel accounts for more than three quarters of their total carbon emissions, making it an easy target, especially when so many meetings are able to happen virtually nowadays.
In August, Boston Consulting Group confirmed it would stop flying prospective graduate hires across Europe to be wined and dined on international trips.
Kevin Ellis, PwC UK's chairman, also said last year that he expected business travel to be reduced by about two-thirds compared with pre-pandemic levels.
There are signs that business travel is tentatively recovering, however. At the end of March, global business travel was at 63 per cent of 2019 levels, according to data from the Business Travel Association (BTA).
Clive Wratten, chief executive of the BTA, said: "We can see that business travel is starting to make a return as people are keen to meet face to face again.
"We are delighted to see this improvement in a sector that has been ravaged by the pandemic [but] we are not expecting returns to pre-pandemic levels until late 2023."
Misconduct risk
While rank and file employees might be aggrieved if their companies scrap subsidised trips in the wake of the pandemic, management will have one fewer worry to keep them up at night.
An abundance of free alcohol combined with being abroad often creates an environment that breeds misconduct.
In 2019, elite London law firm Slaughter and May was forced to scrap its staff ski trips after allegations of harassment on a winter getaway.
A female solicitor at the firm complained that a male colleague sent her a string of messages of a sexual nature after she refused to share a bed with him following a night of heavy drinking.
A partner at EY also resigned in November after making obscene comments of a sexual nature to a junior colleague on a company ski trip in 2019.
Despite the potential pitfalls, however, experts still think there is a future for large work trips abroad.
'Hybrid events'
Helen Hickson, a managing director at consulting giant Accenture, says business travel is still worthwhile even though many meetings can take place virtually.
"There are many reasons from business development to strategic leadership meetings, but overall, I think it ultimately lies in special events that offer unique benefits to meeting in person that simply can't be recreated virtually," she says.
However, Hickson concedes that hosting thousands of people overseas in the one venue will not be commonplace. "I expect to see an emphasis on hybrid events whereby we might see a few hundred people getting together in a venue, and thousands joining virtually."
For EY, the company attempted to justify its trip to Orlando by saying it was important to encourage collaboration among new partners. "Being together, establishing connections, and providing training is very important to maintaining our culture and giving our people an exceptional experience," it said.
On the Harry Potter-themed roller coaster in Orlando, EY's new top brass were forced to enter beneath a fire-breathing dragon, traverse "perilous subterranean vaults" until they encountered Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They then had to "evade the wrath of villains Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, trolls and other creatures" that stood between them and a safe return to Diagon Alley, according to the theme park's description of the ride.
Given the perils of trying to navigate the post-pandemic world of corporate jollies – and all the reputational and climate target risks – EY, and other corporates, might rather take their chances with Rowling's sinister antagonists.
