Colonial SFL, a major player in prime real estate in Paris, reveals the results of the 13th edition of the Ifop Paris Workplace barometer, which measures the relationship of Francilians with their workplace. For the first time, the study compares the vision of expatriates with that of the average Francilien employee. Results: Expatriates are more proud than we are of working in Paris, more fond of our Parisian rituals and passionate debates… while at the same time judging our management to be lagging behind the rest of Europe.
• 82% are proud to work in Paris, and 36% no longer see themselves living anywhere else than in France
• « Belle » is the first word that expatriates associate with Paris (40% compared to 29% for Francilians), with an architecture rated 8.5/10 (compared to 7.9)
• Expats rate the quality of life in Paris higher than we do (6.8 out of 10), and 58% of them find a better balance between work and personal life there than in their home country.
• 76% find that the French know how to enjoy life more than elsewhere… compared to 64% of the Francilians. And among our rituals, expatriates consider the typical Parisian thing to do to be having lunch at a restaurant (83% against 66%) or having a drink on the terrace after work (83% against 75%).
• The expatriates mostly (67%) believe that management in Paris is behind the rest of Europe. They describe Parisian managers as more change-oriented, with unclear instructions (27% vs 16%), and with long and poorly transparent decision-making processes (76% vs 69% among the French).
• The study confirms some older stereotypes about Parisian employees: for expatriates, they are complainers (82%), angry with the English (81%), strike-breakers (76%) and arrogant (65%).
• Nevertheless, Francilien employees report a record level of well-being at work in 2026: 7.1/10, a higher historical level (equaling 2024) since the beginning of the study in 2016 (where it was 6.4). In particular, 57% say that their offices played a role in their current job choice (vs. 30% in 2017); even 72% among 18-24 year olds do so.
1/ Venus for their careers; expats stay for the quality of life
What motivated expatriates to choose to come and work and live in Paris and its region? The question asked of the expatriates deliberately distinguished between two categories of motivations:
• factors directly related to professional life: professional opportunity (mentioned first, 33%), and the need to support one's family (10% of responses);
• non-work-related factors: quality of life (mentioned second, at 16%), and cultural life (fourth, at 8%).
What is striking is the weight of non-professional factors in the decision: people don’t come to Paris just to work there, but for everything the capital has to offer «on the outskirts».
And once there, Paris «keeps its promises»:
• Expats give Paris’s quality of life a score of 6.8/10 (compared to 6.2/10 for Francilians)
• 58% of the expatriates believe that Paris offers a better balance between work and personal life than their home country.
• Transportation, culture, festive life, security… in almost all the dimensions tested, expatriates are at least a little more positive than Francilians:
– 84% are satisfied with public transport access to their place of work (compared to 79% of Franciliens in general)
– The cycle paths are rated 7.2/10 by expatriates, compared to 6.6 by the French
– The security rating is 6.3/10 compared to 5.8/10 by the French
– 93% of the expatriates consider the presence of culture in France to be important (compared to 88%), and 82% even consider it to be a «typically Parisian» element (compared to 74%).
The French, epicureans?
76% of the expatriates believe that the French «know how to enjoy life, more than anywhere else»... a big difference with the opinion of the Francilians themselves (64%).
The result: 82% of the expatriates are proud to work in Paris, and more than one in three (36%) no longer see themselves living anywhere else but in France. Expatriates appear to be excellent ambassadors: they give an average of 7.2/10 for the likelihood of recommending to a friend to come and work in Paris, compared to 6.6/10 for the French.
2/ Beauty as a factor of attractiveness
Expatriates remind us that the beauty of the city and its architecture are not mere add-ons to the soul, but central components of the attractiveness of workplaces. «Beautiful» is the first word they associate with Paris (40% citations, compared to 29% for Francilians in general), far ahead of «dynamic» or «cosmopolitan» (12% each). And they assign an 8.5/10 rating to Parisian architecture, compared to 7.9/10 for Francilians.
Around the offices, expatriates are systematically more satisfied than Francilians with green spaces (69% against 65% – and even 31% against 15% «very satisfied»), the presence of monuments and heritage buildings (60% against 55%). They are also more sensitive to the view from their workplace (60% for expatriates versus 56% for French people).
This adherence to the Parisian landscape is also reflected in the choice of the ideal neighborhood:
Overall, 78% would prefer to work in a mixed neighborhood rather than in a business district. Their favorite neighborhood for work? The central and heritage neighborhoods (Louvre / Palais-Royal (93%) or the Latin Quarter (90%)) are cited as the top choice by expatriates.
For companies, the beauty of the work environment is therefore not just a matter of image. It contributes to the daily experience of employees, their pride in belonging, and the employer’s ability to attract talent accustomed to comparing themselves with the major international metropolises.
3/ Lunch, RTT, debate: the French way of doing things makes everyone envious
In the office, expatriate employees favor a work culture that they easily associate with the French way of life:
• For them, lunch is a sacred ritual: 83% of the expatriates consider it «typically Parisian» to have lunch outside, in a restaurant (compared to 66% of the French).
• 84% of the expatriates who have been living here for less than five years have lunch with their colleagues; this percentage rises to 90% among those who have been here for more than five years – almost the same level as the French people in general (91%).
• Expats place the most «typically French» elements at the top of the list in a Parisian workplace… the RTTs (24%), an achievement so well established in French culture that average Francilians rank it only fourth (13%)
• The debate, a national sport: 60% of the expatriates see the confrontation of ideas at work as a characteristic «typically Parisian» trait (vs. 50% of the French).
• 56% of the expatriates consider the office a place of life as well as a place of work (this is 48% for the Francilians), and half of them say that their colleagues are also their friends.
Overall, the office plays a key role in integrating expatriates: 93% of those who indicate having very good relationships with their colleagues (a score of 9 or 10/10) report having been «well received» in France in general.
The well-being score for expatriates stands at 7.1/10, the same level as that of French expatriates, but 22% of them score between 9 and 10/10, compared to 16% of the French. And newcomers (under 5 years old: 7.2/10) barely stand out from the «established» ones (5 years or older: 7.1/10): a sign of successful and lasting integration.
The result: Teleworking appeals to expatriates a little less, who came to Paris to «experience the Parisian experience». 78% French people state that the possibility of teleworking has become a criterion for choosing their next job, compared to 71% of the expats (-7 points).
4/ Management: the Achilles heel of French Touch?
The attachment to Paris and its working environment does not prevent expatriates from having a nuanced view of our working methods, which are often described as vertical and less transparent. This stereotype is confirmed in our study:
• 67% of the expatriates believe that the management culture in France is behind that of other European countries
• 27% describe their manager as being changey, giving vague instructions (compared to 16% of the Franciliens in general, the largest difference)
• 76% consider the decision-making processes to be long and poorly transparent (vs. 69% of the Franciliens).
5/ Grumblers, strikers, arrogant… some clichés are in for a rough ride
Expatriates love Paris, but they still have their preconceived ideas about the French… some of which are based on a certain degree of truth:
• 82% of the expatriates consider the French to be «grumbling»
• 81% believe they speak poor English
• 65% find them arrogant.
• A stereotype only convinces a minority: only 45% believe that French people work less than others.
6/ The Francilians nevertheless enjoy record well-being at work
Since the Ifop Paris Workplace barometer has been analyzing the reports from French employees about their work, the study has never recorded such a high level of well-being at work: it reaches 7.1/10 (tied with 2024), compared to 6.4/10 in 2016.
Loving their office therefore «counts» 1.2 points towards well-being: those who see it as a place to live rate their level of well-being at 7.7/10. Only 6.5/10 for those who see it only as a place to work.
57% of the employees believe that their offices played a role in their decision to join their company, compared to 30% in 2017. This figure rises to 72% among 18-24 year-olds.
Covid has changed the way Francilians view their office: now more people consider the office a place of life as well as a place of work (49% versus 51%).
The balance between the desired teleworking rhythm and the actual working rhythm is now stabilized (2.2 days desired, 1.6 days completed).
