Since March 2020 and the first confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic, teleworking has been democratized for some workers in France.
A practice which, in two years, has become an almost compulsory reason for recruiting young people, in the same way as the salary.
For the new generation arriving on the job market, it is becoming more and more out of the question to only do face-to-face.
Avoid travel time, do the dishes at the same time as your meeting, be free to work at the pace you want… For the majority of employees, a little telework here and there is an undeniably cool practice.
But the deal is evolving into something even bigger.
According to the report "People at Work 2022: the Workforce View study"*, more than half (53%) of 18-24 year olds in France would consider leaving their company if their employer imposed 100% face-to-face attendance.
And all ages combined, 36% of respondents would be ready to slam the door if it were impossible to telecommute.
In just over two years, since its forced march in March 2020 with the first confinement linked to Covid-19, teleworking has therefore gone from discovery for many employees to a necessary criterion for hiring a worker.
Caroline Diard, teacher-researcher in human resources management and law at ESC Amiens, looked at this evolution, which is as extreme as it is express: “Teleworking has become the norm, even an essential prerequisite.
At the moment, with the recruitment crisis in several sectors, young people know that they are more able to impose their conditions, and teleworking is one of them”.
Marina, 23, who responded to our call for testimonials, believes that “there is no longer any question of working on site for five consecutive days.
The teleworking criterion takes precedence over the salary criterion.
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In Search of Lost Time
But what seduces her so much about working at home?
The young woman has several arguments: “It's a comfort of life, allowing to find a personal balance.
I also feel less under pressure, I take the time more easily, where in face-to-face, I hurry to finish to leave on time to do all the tasks that await me at home… .
I save a lot in mental load and financially at the level of the journey.
Amira, 23, sums it up soberly: “Telework makes it possible to manage professional and personal life, and working alone is better for me”.
And now Caroline Diard arrives with a new wave of advantages: “Teleworking allows you to have less distraction from colleagues or corporate life, and therefore to better focus on fund files.
By maximizing efficiency and eliminating time in transport, it offers more time for leisure”.
If she swears that she does not want to “do her boomer”, the expert cannot help but notice: “There is less importance given to work among young people than for previous generations.
The saving of time is therefore all the more important to them.
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Freedom-equality-teleworking
For Agnès Duroni, specialist in questions related to the future of work, “the coronavirus has broken the glass ceiling of teleworking, offering employees much more freedom.
And when you've tasted freedom, it's hard to give it up.
“For some employers who feared this system like the big bad wolf, the confinements proved that yes, employees – most, in any case – work correctly remotely.
Sophie Prunier-Poulmaire, lecturer in work psychology and ergonomics at the University of Paris Nanterre, pierces the mystery upside down: if telework has become so essential when it comes to applying for a job, it is before all because face-to-face has lost its flavor.
In particular with the flex-office, envisaged by 55% of companies in 2021, according to a study**.
“The employee has lost his fixed territory, his specific space, his same colleagues and his habits”, notes the researcher.
Telework would also tend to be self-sustaining: "The more workers there are who stay at home, the less the face-to-face offers interest and value to those who go there, the more these people on site will tend to telework", et cetera, et cetera.
We must save the present soldier
However, the face-to-face has undeniable advantages: collective, more marked distinction between personal life and work, dialogue, exchange and easier advice taking... Advantages which, for the most part, decrease with the reduction in staff linked to the flex-office and … to telecommuting.
Consequence for Marc, 25 years old and working in IT: the office no longer seems to have any advantages over home: “Everything I do face-to-face can be done remotely.
It therefore makes no sense to waste time in transport just to satisfy the occupation of an office.
Everyone wins: I work more and better.
I'm less stressed, and ecologically, it's just obvious.
A feeling that Agnès Duroni develops: “Today, young people no longer want to be presentist.
Coming to a company must have meaning, added value.
And the problem is that the face-to-face loses its interest over the years, instead of gaining it”.
Caroline Diard confirms this growing disenchantment between young people and face-to-face: "Companies must understand that today, teleworking is a necessity for recruiting, and that just like a low salary, 100% face-to-face is a rejection criteria.
“Same analysis with Sophie Prunier-Poulmaire:” Just look at the current recruitment crisis: catering, hotels, services… Only professions where teleworking is impossible.
We talk a lot about the issue of income, but this absence also plays a role.
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Why youth?
Young people are, in the study cited above, the age category most favorable to teleworking.
A paradox knowing that they are the ones who experienced the job market the shortest.
Not really, defends Caroline Diard, definitely not a boomer: “It is a technology-tested generation, which has taken many courses and distance training during episodes of coronavirus.
Somewhere, she has already experienced the worst distance with the courses, it is normal that she also wishes to have the advantages.
During work-study programs and internships, face-to-face attendance is often imposed, which is already felt to be an injustice.
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Still, if teleworking is requested by many employees, “they generally prefer two, three days a week, and not 100%.
Coming to the office, the physical presence of people, leaving home remain vital points for employees”, nuance Sophie Prunier-Poulmaire.
The world of employment is also discovering its at the same time: compulsory telework, essential face-to-face.
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* ADP Research Institute interviewed 32,924 working people in 17 countries between November 1 and 24, 2021, including 1,951 in France.
** Study conducted among 3,978 people (41% employees, 37% managers and 22% executives) in France, over the period from February 2 to 22, 2021, by Deskeo, a company that manages flexible offices.
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