Public Servant Lifestyle

The way that individuals & employers plan work holiday time - & destination choices - could be about to take a radical new direction.

A fascinating study confidently predicts that, as the distinction between work and home becomes far more blurred, the traditional model of 20 days’ annual leave will become virtually obsolete.

Within the next 10 years - the study says - employer organisations are set to increase their staff’s annual leave allocation, by giving people more so-called ‘soft’ holidays (a set amount of days where employees must work a minimum number of hours, albeit it from the beach).

The number of ‘hard’ holidays - a set amount of days where employees will be logged out of their office networks and be completely unreachable by their place of work – will decrease. At present, it is estimated that as many as one in three people in managerial positions contact their work office while on holiday.

Lifestyle Consultants

As travel is recognised as a highly valued commodity, employer organisations will introduce flexible holiday allocation as part of their employee benefits package. Sabbaticals, travel loans and the option to ‘buy’ extra holidays will become standard.

Some employer organisations, says the study, will develop this approach as recognition of the practical work skills - including 'leadership' and 'initiative' - that travel can bring. Using trained lifestyle consultants, travel operators may even have the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with employer organisations to design holiday plans for employees.

Experts in the fields of eco-tourism, travel technology, architecture and social demographics make these predictions in The Thomson Future Forum – Holiday 2016 report.

The expert panel forecasts that the demand for quick, congestion free travel will be driven by the rise of the overseas commuter - someone who works remotely from their overseas home or from the town/city nearest to their overseas property, commuting in and out of the UK on a regular basis.

The result is that, by 2016, an ‘overseas commuter belt’ will be firmly established and commuters will consider their overseas home to be their primary residence. Properties in Marrakesh, Barcelona and Dubrovnik will be popular with culture loving commuters, whereas professional types may opt for cities with vibrant business districts, such as Hanover, Stuttgart and Verona.

These overseas communters may negotiate packages at work which would allow them to work remotely from home for three weeks out of every month. There will be fast-track commuter check-ins at airports and the creation of specially designed international commuter studio apartments to provide temporary accommodation for employees while they are working within the UK.

“In as little as ten years, the way we travel and the reasons for travel will be vastly changed,” says Professor Nick Middleton, presenter of Channel 4 TV travel show Surviving Extremes, and Chairman of the Thomson Future Forum.

“The rapid advance of technology and global communications networks will make international commuting highly desirable and viable. Furthermore, as our fast paced working culture intensifies over the next decade, the quest for a better work/life balance will be even greater and remote working in a sunnier and less pressured environment will become a highly appealing lifestyle choice.”

More information available in Holidays, Incentives & Rewards, Leisure Breaks