Call it an occupational hazard, event planners like to plan ahead. As we enter 2025, it is time to dive into the main trends that will prevail for corporate retreats this year. If we look at the kind of requests we have been receiving the past few months as well as the research we continuously do on hosting corporate retreats we can identify five topics that keep coming back and will most certainly keep on growing in 2025:
While some companies (like Amazon most recently) choose to recall their employees to be at the office five days a week, many more have shifted to fully remote setups or created hybrid solutions for their “out of town” employees.
With team members distributed across the world, more venues will have to accommodate for both in-person and virtual retreats.
Indeed, remote and hybrid work solutions have seen constant growth since the Pandemic.
As of 2024, about 12.3% of the EU workforce works remotely, up from around 10.2% in 2022. Estimates suggest remote work could reach up to 15% of the workforce by 2025, and is expected to increase by 34% in Europe over the next five years.
The adoption rates and experiences vary between regions (Higher in the nordic countries), industries , and individual companies but the trend appears to be towards continued growth.
Mental health and wellbeing takes center stage in 2025. Demand for activities such as meditation, mindfulness sessions, stretch breaks, work-life balance workshops looking at the employee holistically will increase as companies increasingly recognize the direct repercussions mental health and wellbeing can have on the overall business.
With more and more Gen Z entering the workforce companies have to adapt to priorities of the new generation that is focused on flexibility, control over their own schedule and mental health and well being.
Studies have shown that about 70% of Gen Z workers would rather work remotely, at least half the time. They are a generation who have witnessed their parents experience burnout and are determined to avoid it themselves.
Companies have to approach recruitment and retention with these thoughts in mind and will have to adapt their policies to remain attractive to the new generation of talents.
As corporate retreats become more “common”, companies will seek out more creative ways to make theirs stand out.
From the location to the activities, they will look for engaging and one of a kind adventures for their employees. Something everyone will keep talking about even after the retreat ends.
With the increase of remote and hybrid solutions offered by companies over the world, retreats have gone from a “once in a while treat” to an essential for companies to remain cohesive and on track. This means that locations and companies offering retreat opportunities now face a growing competition, leading to even more competitive offerings.
In addition, as we saw above, the changing demographic of the workforce also plays a role here. Gen Z values travel and experiences highly and retreats now become a part of the value proposition to attract and retain talents.
With teammates spread out across the world, the face to face time becomes even more valuable. While team building and outdoor activities will be prioritized, a large part of the program will be dedicated to deep work sessions such as brainstorming or workshops.
With the increase of remote work and distributed teams across the world, companies need to maximize the time their teams are actually spending face to face. And while all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, retreats tend to include more and more work sessions in between bonding activities.
While the goal of many retreats remains to foster a sense of belonging and encourage team building, many companies now organize getaways for specific work purpose: hackathons, leadership training, sales workshops, new product launch… activities that benefits greatly from having everyone together in a room rather than miles apart online, hoping for the whiteboard effect (when working together generates more ideas and insights than working alone) to take over.
As more and more people try to reduce their impact on the planet through consumption and travel, it is inevitable that environmental concerns will impact the way we run corporate retreats.
Companies will increasingly look for venues offering eco-friendly choices, showing green practices and certifications, offering low impact traveling options and using local products.
Despite what might seem like slow progress at times there is definitely a growing environmental awareness among individuals and companies around the role they play in preserving (or not) the environment, as well as the increasing demand for more environmentally friendly venues, products and services, and that also includes retreats. And if that is not enough, government regulations becoming stricter tend to encourage the less inclined companies to comply and adopt better practices.
Social and environmental responsibilities are integral parts of many companies' strategies and that impacts the way they choose to travel and organize their team retreats.
In many ways these trends are already in motion and it is only a matter of time until they become the “new normal” of corporate retreats.
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