The Post Pandemic Mind Shift

Two years ago when the pandemic started I wrote a LinkedIn article. The focus was on the "quarantine mindset" that was rapidly becoming apart of our everyday culture. Now halfway through 2022 our culture is quickly changing again. The post pandemic mind shift is beginning to grow in every sector of the economy. We are coming out of the pandemic and seemingly going into a recession. Inflation and rates are at an all time high as companies are scrambling to get their employees back into office while balancing to fully staff their teams.

I work in the entertainment travel field and recognize travel as an industry struggling to come back post pandemic. Majority of companies are finding themself in a place where they reduced their staff due to the pandemic, were granted money from the government to stay afloat and now that travel has resumed they no longer have the experienced pool of talent to rehire to meet travel demands. Companies struggling with this change are faced with a mind shift occurring within business culture.

The pandemic allowed for employees to take a hard look in the mirror. What they saw was a double sided mirror that reflected their company's agenda and not their own personal value. We have begun to remember as a collective the worth we have as individuals. Living in a world where we saw it is possible to work remote and still be paid adequately has created this post pandemic shift. Elon Musk who is one of the richest and most influential business leaders in the world economy recently demand that workers return to 40 hours week. I am willing to admit that Elon is a genius when it comes to running multiple multi-billion dollar companies. I will say though that for someone who had to sleep in his office everyday to keep his company afloat should take a seat when it comes to daily business standards and expectations.

According to a survey by ConnectionSolutions, 77% of those who work remotely at least a few times per month show increased productivity, with 30% doing more work in less time and 24% doing more work in the same period of time. It only makes sense to continue a remote work environment in the travel industry. This doesn't translate to the entertainment travel field as most roles are onsite or hybrid. Talent for entertainment travel is becoming far and few in between. We continue to see top industry leaders like Microsoft who are doubling their employees salary to retain talent.

The people who book travel for the world's top industry leaders are travel agents. Forbes (March, 14 2022) cites more than 40% of companies say workers have asked for higher pay to offset inflation. Few have revised salary budgets. In response companies are revising their benefits in order to maintain employee retention. The benefits offered can sometimes be what a company should have provided or other companies already do.

As a millennial navigating my way through this industry I recognize our leaders have the opportunity to invest in the next generation of travel agents. Luckily, there are companies who are recognizing the necessity to evolve for their employees. The only way for continued success is if all sectors of the travel industry shift their cultures to align with the mind set of today's workforce. When we can create this alignment we will no longer be in a post pandemic mind shift but a recovery of reclamation.