2021 U.S.-Booked Air Volume: $10 million
2021 Global T&E: $29.3 million
Card Program: Individual Bill/Central Pay
Primary Global Online Booking Tool: Concur
Primary U.S. Expense Supplier: Concur
Primary U.S. Travel Risk Management Supplier: ISOS
Primary U.S. Payment Supplier: American Express
Consolidated Global TMC: Amex GBT
IBM’s total U.S.-booked air volume plummeted again in 2021 to $10 million from last year’s $39 million as the company continued to limit travel and in-person meetings in an effort to reduce the risk of
Covid-19 exposure. Its 2019 total was $415 million. However, with employees returning to the office during the first quarter of 2022, the company this year anticipates a rebound in U.S.-booked air spend to $70 million and expects to reach pre-pandemic levels within two to five years.
Virtual meeting options are strongly encouraged but not considered a default option to replace travel and are not embedded into the company’s booking or approval workflows.
The company’s travel team in 2021 implemented an air-reshopping program and developed a sustainability strategy for the travel program, which included the addition of electric vehicles to its car rental program in the United States. IBM’s hotel program uses dynamic pricing with a rate cap, along with rate shopping and audit tools.
IBM in November 2021 completed the spinoff of its managed structured services unit into a new company, Kyndryl. Financial statements through Dec. 31, 2021, include 10 months of Kyndryl-
related figures. Reported 2021 revenue was $57.4 billion, with sales of $27.3 billion. Both were up from 2020 totals of $55.2 billion and $26.6 billion, respectively, and were on par with 2019 figures. The company’s travel department also established a travel program, agency, online booking tool and expense reporting system in 66 countries for this divested business unit.
The company in 2021 announced a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 across all the countries in which it operates. IBM’s total 2021 GHG emissions were 698,000 metric tons of CO2, down from about 987,100 in 2020 and 1.26 million in 2019. The company does not report Scope 3 emissions.
As of Dec. 31, 2021, the company’s workforce included about 282,100 people from IBM and wholly owned subsidiaries. This figure is down from 2020, in which the company reported 345,900 employees, but about 90,000 were included in the spin-off of Kyndryl, so the net difference is a gain of about 26,200 people.