Bill Gates predicts 50% of business travel will disappear in the pandemic’s aftermath

Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates said the coronavirus will essentially change the way people travel for and conduct business, even after the pandemic is over.

“My prediction would be that over 50% of business travel and over 30% of days in the office will go away,” Gates told Andrew Ross Sorkin during the New York Times’ Dealbook conference.

Moving forward, Gates also foresees that there will be a “very high threshold” for conducting business trips now that working from home is more feasible. However, some companies may be more extreme with their efforts to reduce in-person meetings than others, the philanthropist said.

The philanthropist and tech executive, who appeared alongside Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the livestreamed conference, said he’s already held five virtual roundtables this year with pharma executives — a meeting that’s usually held in person in New York.

“I have a “simpler schedule” due to the pandemic now that I don’t travel for business. “We will go to the office somewhat, we’ll do some business travel, but dramatically less,” Gates said.

The pandemic has devastated air travel demand, particularly for lucrative business trips. Business travellers before the virus accounted for half of U.S. airlines’ revenue.