Jérôme Fourquet, Director of Ifop's Opinion and Strategy Department, author of the "En immersion" survey on confinement.
Jérôme Fourquet
How has French society's relationship with teleworking changed?
We were able to observe that teleworking during the period of confinement was experienced very differently depending on the level of responsibility, the type of job, and of course the type of accommodation and family situation. Very quickly, limits were perceived, which leads us to believe that we are in no way moving towards a supposed 'end of the office', but rather towards more hybrid solutions. Teleworking was already a demand before the confinement, and it may be justified in certain cases, particularly where travel times are long, but the majority of people do not want to stop going to the office.
Will there be a strong "before" and "after" Covid?
I'm convinced that containment and Covid have not revolutionised our lives. Our various surveys show that there is no massive changeover, whatever the subject. Teleworking has certainly been adopted by a significant proportion of people, but we have seen that it has its limits, and that we are moving towards a mixed, hybrid solution, with the possibility of using it more often, which is a demand particularly when travel times are long, but not a majority desire to stop going to the office altogether. In terms of comfort at work, as a place where ideas can be developed, where people can get together and exchange points of view, the office has proved its worth. Even more so now that we've got them back after the deconfinement!
So the end of office space isn't just around the corner?
We can assume that a certain number of companies are going to be a little hasty in their systematic switch to teleworking, particularly in order to reduce their rents. Clearly, this does not meet employees' expectations or aspirations. The interviews we conducted show that the people of Ile-de-France are very attached to the whole working environment and want to be able to continue working from the office for part of the week. First and foremost there's team cohesion, a major issue for employees and managers alike, but there's also creativity, the fact of 'sparking the spark' of collective intelligence, and everything that a workspace brings us in terms of productivity. Working from home in the spring of 2020 went well, but we can see this as an illusion: many projects were already well under way, some provided a service in 'downgraded' mode, and the expectations of customers and partners, who were also teleworking, were not the same... Launching new projects and sparking the creative spark is not as simple when everyone is behind their screens.
The 3 advantages of the office over the home
1. Conviviality
2. Creative emulation
3. Productivity and responsiveness
More generally, what are the dangers of making the home the ultimate place of reference, where everything comes to you?
It's a slope, a trend that was already there, but that has been accelerated by containment and Covid. Today, Amazon and Deliveroo are rubbing their hands. This health scare has accentuated the tendency to withdraw into the private bubble that is the home. If we push this logic, we run the risk of seeing all places of exchange reduced to their bare essentials. In a society that is becoming increasingly individualised, we can imagine that there will be a premium for companies that still allow people to meet in convivial places, be they offices, their services, the neighbourhood...
From an individual point of view, can you identify a risk?
If tomorrow it is decided that teleworking will become the rule, HR managers will be in for a serious setback! The issue of burn-out has been on the rise in companies for several years now, and it's easy to see how systematic teleworking would accentuate this trend. During the confinement period, people said to us "all things considered, I did more work in teleworking than in my usual environment". The abolition of the boundaries represented by working hours, the blurring of the boundaries between professional and personal life, coupled with the feeling of isolation that comes with working from home, represent real risks. Teleworking, yes, but in reasonable doses!
How do you see the future of offices?
For the younger generation whose families are not yet established, providing offices in attractive neighbourhoods is a plus that can be claimed by companies that choose to retain space. From the moment that some companies take the excessive step into teleworking, those that have made the effort to maintain square metres of office space, convivial areas and creative spaces will benefit from a major comparative advantage. They will be able to say to their employees: "unlike other companies, we are committed to providing you with a pleasant working environment".
