The coronavirus epidemic forces millions of French people, confined to their homes, to telecommute. A new habit that has its advantages, but also its disadvantages. For Axel de Tarlé, this solution is doomed to stop as soon as government measures end.
Much of France is teleworking. Axel, will this habit continue? Will telework impose itself in offices after this epidemic?
It is clear that teleworking works for those who can of course. For many professions, this is impossible: for dentists, waiters in restaurants, construction worker ... etc ... But, at Europe 1, we manage to do an morning show, interactive programs, while staying at home, and with very few people on the radio. The technology is there.
Moreover, it is Mark Zuckerberg, the president of Facebook, who explained in an interview with Le Point last September, that indeed, with the new digital tools, everyone should be able to work from where they want. So, indeed, the question of whether telework will continue to arise. And this is not without consequences, for real estate in big cities for example. Because if you can work from anywhere. Many will settle in the countryside, or in medium-sized cities where the living environment is much more pleasant.
At the same time Axel, we need to see each other physically. Can we really be satisfied with an exchange by videoconference or by telephone?
This is the great limit of teleworking. Everyone is at home, doing their job, their work to do, a bit like a list of tasks to do.
But then, the exchanges by phone or teleconference are very functional. There is no such chatter, these informal exchanges, at the coffee machine, on the stairs, in the canteen. Chatter that is wrongly seen as a waste of time, but which is in fact crucial. Because it is there, during these informal exchanges that ideas are born, that creativity is born which will allow the company to progress, to go further. Telework does not allow that.
And then (we realize this right now): going to work is also a way to get some fresh air, to get out of your house.
We are all experiencing it right now. One of the great weaknesses of teleworking is that there is no longer a border between family and private life. It is clear that mixing the two, private life / professional life, is not a lasting solution.
So, my dear Bernard, see you very soon, on the premises of Europe 1!