On March 9th, Rachel, J.C. Fu, PhD, Chair of the UF Department of Tourism Hospitality and Event Management, and Director of the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute spoke with the BBC News to give her perspective on the current trend of 'Workcations'.
Q. Workers who might spend a week vacation on the beach, but work 9 to 5 and then enjoy vacation leisure time after/before. (As opposed to just tacking vacation days on to a business trip.) For that first group, who are the types of workers taking these bleisure vacations who couldn’t before the pandemic, do you think?
A. Before the pandemic era, bleisure referred to people who built their vacation days into their business trips by extending their trips before/after their business hours and days, so they could invite their loved ones to spend quality time and enjoy a nice accommodation (partially at employers’ expense) at a destination. During the pandemic, we all have been well trained that as long as we can deliver remotely, companies seem not to interfere with where their employees are working from (home vs. non-home places where Internet connection and/or satellite tower is well equipped). Similar to the remote learning environment, some students have decided to stay at AirBnBs in the mountains, beach houses, and other fun places to use their cameras while taking notes and Zooming in and out freely.
Before and during the pandemic, some companies and institutions already have their designated rental car companies welcome contracted companies’ employees to enter their company codes when renting a car for employees’ own leisure trips. Some companies even provide the contracted hotels/rental car companies as part of employee benefits such as contracted lodging places and/or rental cars.
Q. Why is it more accessible to them now?
A. The combined revolutionary concepts of work experiences, lifestyles, employee benefits, technology convenience, flexibility, productivity, and employers’ retention/recruitment strategies have impacted how we see the future of workplaces. We’d assume it might be the group of millennials who would enjoy the bleisure work-life styles, but when we think further, it seems to be an acceptable and win-win situation for both employees and employers. With mutual understanding, as long as employers accept that their employees do not need to be in an office 8 am to 5 pm, through consistent and good quality of their work products, reporting and delivering by effective communications integrated with reliable supportive systems (stabilized broadbands and Internet), the new type of bleisure will attract certain types of individuals. If using a rental/leasing office space is a high cost for the employers, the new concept could be seen as a new future of the workplace: encouraging employees to work remotely to reduce emissions, use hours more mindfully, and hopefully be happier and more productive.
Q.We talked about how people have been able to change their behaviors… anything else, maybe something about big systemic changes (companies being more flexible, etc.)?What do you think the implications are of more workers doing bleisure travel? Might it create inequalities between workers who can work remotely on vacation and those who can’t?
A. Individuals use their talents to make a living, and even more so to make a life. They select their expertise and skills and make decisions about their work and career; it’s a life choice. It’s about the nature of individuals’ job requirements, and I would not personally connect the reality with the inequalities at this moment. We may want to focus more on “access”, “strategies”, and “advanced approaches” (either through technologies or based on supply/demand mutual understanding and agreement) that can permit workers to deliver their work in-person and/or remotely more effectively.
Q. Or does it make remote work while on vacation more common? Something else?
A. From the tourism and hospitality business perspectives, combining vacation/work at destinations that will make contributions to local economies and generate further job opportunities. From a mindfulness perspective, we all have freedom of choice. “Leisure” stands for “freedom”. Individuals being able to enjoy their leisure freely with various choices [destinations, types of lodging, travel partners, etc.] and enjoy their working hours productively sounds wonderful. To work effectively and productively in a beautiful place is not only to be seen as the balance between work and life but could also be perceived as enjoying the life journey while we can. Having the freedom to make various choices about our work-life style is an empowering benefit.
Read the full article @ https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220309-workcations-the-travel-trend-mixing-work-and-play
