An open space during confinement -

Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

  • A survey carried out by IFOP and SFL (Société foncière lyonnaise) reveals that 63% of employees want to work most of their time in the office.

  • In September, 86% of employees ideally wanted to work from home at least one day a week.

    A figure identical to that of February, before confinement (87%).

  • What is changing is the ideal number of teleworked days that employees desire, which goes from an average of 1.4 days per week before confinement to 2.1 days per week after confinement.

For a year, with the transport strike last winter and the health crisis marked by two confinements, the way of working of Ile-de-France residents has been profoundly disrupted and has given birth to new habits.

Teleworking, which is no longer presented, has imposed itself with force in many sectors, when the open space, flagship of the years 1990-2000 is about to live its last hours.

Really ?

To get a clearer picture, the Paris Workplace 2020 barometer shows the impact of confinement on the relationship with the workplace.

The IFOP and SFL (Société foncière lyonnaise) which publish this Thursday this study entitled “Offices, the hour of truth.

After the crisis, where will we work tomorrow?

“Questioned in February - before the first confinement - then in September, 1,500 Ile-de-France employees each time.

Have the employees drawn a line on the desk?

How do they want to work tomorrow?

How do new workers want to relate to their office?

Elements of response through this survey.

"The physical office is not dead"

According to the employees interviewed, the office should continue to be the main workplace.

63% of employees want to work most of their time in the office.

And this, at least three days a week.

“The main lesson is that the physical office is not dead.

For employees and managers alike, it appears more and more clearly that the office is the place where commitment, creativity and corporate culture will play out ”, summarizes Aude Grant, Deputy Managing Director, asset management and SFL investments.

“Social life with colleagues” is also the first reason to come to the office for 55% of employees (+ 8 points between February and September).

What future for teleworking?

According to survey figures, in September, 86% of employees ideally wanted to work from home at least one day a week.

A figure finally identical to that of February, before confinement (87%).

What is now changing is the ideal number of teleworked days that employees want, which goes on average from 1.4 days per week before confinement to 2.1 days per week after confinement.

Note that only an ultra-minority of employees (8%) wish to work exclusively remotely, according to the barometer.

Teleworking should in any case remain a professional habit.

“The taboo on teleworking has been lifted.

Yes, we produce work when we are at home, ”assures Aude Grant.

"The moment of truth for offices"

“The office is no longer the place of production,” notes Aude Grant.

“In teleworking, people work extremely well and sometimes more.

This is one of the criticisms that can be made in practice.

Productivity is not at stake, the problem is there is no more rallying point, ”she says.

According to the survey, the office should represent more in the coming years, the place of creativity, bond, motivation, emulation and attachment to the company "which are in the process of disintegrating with the telework ”.

“It is therefore the hour of truth for offices because employees will have more and more the choice of going to the office or not.

Companies will have to give employees the desire to come back, the pleasure of coming back.

It is likely that in this change, some buildings will become obsolete more quickly ”.

What about the open space?

Noise, promiscuity,

small talk,

intractable debates on air conditioning or heating and miasma nest ... Is open space going in the direction of history after the health crisis?

“The whole open space is probably dead.

But this death has been scheduled for a few years.

In fact, the crisis has accelerated this trend.

Large open spaces are no longer at the cutting edge of innovation, ”says Aude Grant.

What to replace it?

One thing is certain, "the office is not dead but we will see the gap between the good and the bad offices increase," she continues.

The flex office track often mentioned for future years should however be qualified.

“We were able to measure that a total flex office, where we arrive in the morning and take up an available space, is quite disturbing for employees and can generate losses in efficiency.

But on a more measured scale, this can have virtues, ”she explains.

What face for the “office of tomorrow”?

In the future, “quality offices are well placed, accessible premises”.

The survey reveals for 44% of 25-30 year olds, the neighborhood was important in the choice to join their business, against 29% of those over 50.

“The crisis has revealed that people want to take transport less and less.

Transport time is an even more discriminating criterion than before for employees, ”notes Aude Grant.

Finally, according to the authors of the study, the office must allow a "significant mix of use" in connection with the neighborhood and the building by "offering more services": Cafeterias, sports halls, gyms. meeting, silent rooms, auditoriums or even electric parking spaces.

But how to combine these facilities and accessibility, while at the same time rents are increasing in Paris and the inner suburbs and forcing more and more companies to move away?

“Companies need to work more on reorganizing space,” answers Aude Grant.

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  • Teleworking

  • Covid 19

  • Confinement

  • Job

  • Open space

  • Paris

  • Coronavirus