Which of Paris, Madrid, London or Berlin wins the 'hearts' of employees?
Our "match of European capitals" crowns Madrid, which Londoners, Berliners and people from the Paris region put at the top of the list of destinations they would like to move to. It's interesting to note that, when the final whistle blows, the findings of our study go beyond the designation of a single winner, and that each city has its own assets that need to be known and promoted. Indeed, the responses to this 9th Paris Workplace survey - the first in the post-Covid era - identify trends that appear to be universal, if not pan-European.
Among them, let's mention three.
Let's start with teleworking. The practice of teleworking suddenly burst into our lives, and now, almost three years after the start of the pandemic, it appears to be widely accepted and deployed in companies in all countries. But those who predicted (no doubt a little hastily) the end of the office were wrong. In 2022, the number of days teleworked each week will still be in the minority, with the barometer still hovering around the two-day-a-week mark on average, with slight differences from country to country. This pace seems to correspond to the desire expressed by employees; we shall see in the coming months whether this frequency is indeed the one that becomes the norm in Europe.
As a result of this new geographical distribution of work, the 'match' between office and home has a referee: employees. In Paris, whereas in 2017 only a third of employees considered office space to be a decisive factor in their decision to join a company, now more than one in two makes it a decisive factor. What was only a faint signal ten years ago is now a major trend, making office space a key factor in the 'war for talent' that companies are waging.
Finally, more than a city, our "match" points to social life as the big winner. For both Latin Americans and people from more northerly countries, it is the number one reason for going to work. It's interesting to note that people living in the Paris region win the 'back to work' match, and are very attached to socialising with work colleagues. This dimension militates in favour of high added-value, service-oriented offices, located in neighbourhoods that offer the opportunity to get together with colleagues. Paris is a perfect example of this trend, to which SFL is very attached: in five years, the attractiveness of mixed neighbourhoods has increased by ten points.
