- The “Telework 2020” study was published on Thursday and shows that telework continues to progress.
- The social movements of winter have led companies and employees to increase the use of this practice.
- Some limits already well identified in previous years are still present.
Telework, already popularized by the Macron ordinances of 2017, was widely acclaimed by employees during the strikes against the pension reform this winter. This is one of the main results of the “Telework 2020” study carried out by Malakoff Humanis and published this Thursday. For the 3rd edition of this annual barometer, 1,610 employees were asked about their teleworking practices, as well as 402 business leaders. Regarding the impact of the coronavirus, which should lead to a new leap in telework, the effect of the epidemic could not be studied due to the time required between collecting responses and processing the results.
In 2019, 30% of the employees questioned declared having teleworked at least once in the year, a share which was very slightly higher compared to 2018 (29%). For Anne-Sophie Godon, innovation director of Malakoff Humanis, "practice is stabilizing, we are reaching a kind of age of reason for teleworking after the significant increase in 2018 (+ 4 points)", which was linked to " new ”Macron ordinances softening the telework framework.
Less fatigue and better sleep
This relative stability experienced a start during the strikes. Due to the lack of public transport, especially in the Paris region, companies have tended to favor telework. According to the study, 38% of employees who had not used it so far, when their job allowed, "discovered" the practice in December 2019. Often by personal choice (in 84% of cases) , more rarely following a decision imposed by the company.
Unsurprisingly, the benefits advanced by employees in teleworking during strikes are numerous: reduction in fatigue (cited by 90% of the panel), financial savings (89%), improved health (84%) or even better quality of sleep (80%). We also find the “classic” advantages - cited outside strike movements - such as a better work-life balance, or even greater autonomy at work.
Well-identified limits
However, telework is not a magic answer to all problems. The difficulties already identified in previous studies are still present in 2019. First, teleworking is not accessible to all employees: impossible for example for a nurse, a cleaning lady, a garbage collector or even a cleaning agent. welcome to work remotely. According to Malakoff Humanis, 60% of respondents are in this case. Telework is therefore more accessible to managers (44% of them practice it, compared to 22% of non-managers) or executives.
Then, working remotely from your usual place of employment is not without risks. 58% of employees who telecommute recognize "a difficulty in separating private and professional time", 51% even pointing out "a risk of addiction to work". For businesses, the main risk is "the complexity of assessing the health and safety of the places where teleworking takes place" (cited by 54% of managers). Employees and business leaders also note "more difficult exchanges": almost 40% of those who telecommute have either no contact or only one contact per day (email, telephone) with another member of their company (manager, colleague). When repeated, this can lead to feelings of isolation or exclusion.
These risks show the need for managers to properly support their teams when teleworking is implemented. According to Malakoff Humanis, managers say they are concerned not to "favor or disadvantage employees in teleworking". Those who encounter difficulties with remote work also question how to maintain cohesion and exchanges within their team. Despite all these limits, 75% of employees and 65% of business leaders are convinced that telework will develop further in the coming years.
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