Corporate Travel Management – 3 Min Read

An interview with Sajit Chacko, Founder, and COO at Tripeur.

Here are the excerpts from an interview done with Sajit Chacko, Founder, and COO at Tripeur.

Should organizations bear this additional cost in managing workplace sanitization and safety?

Yes, of course. The organization is responsible for employee safety when at work. However, this is an unforeseen overhead at the time when revenues are shrinking. The tradeoff comes at a very high-risk cost. A single detected case in office would mandate the entire office to be locked up, all occupants to be quarantined and in effect put the essential business operation at risk. Thus, it is better to follow a safety protocol and incur a minor cost that puts the entire organization to risk.

Does it add to the existing operating cost?

I would believe “NO”. Today most offices are operating with a fraction of headcount “in office”, thus incurring a reduction in “per seat” operating cost. The added recurring cost is a fraction of the cost that is being saved because of lower consumption of “Heat/Light/Power” and “Ancillary Employee Service Cost.” So, overall the safety precautions will not be a significant addition to the operational costs.

Are there any exceptions where the safety precautions add to the overall costs and hence the prices?

Manufacturing units, especially, those that produce foodstuff will see a rise in administration costs, due to the safety protocols. The same cannot be avoided and must be built into the cost, thus increasing the costs marginally. In addition, supermarkets and similar operations have also seen an increased cost factor and most that I know have factored that into the discounts that they have been offering.

What is the current state of corporate travel?

Most organizations have drastically cut down on non-essential travel. What that means is, now only travel that has a direct impact of business will be considered essential. This trend will continue in the short term. However, in the long term, non-essential travel will also come to the fore-front; “The engine need servicing, you see!!”