After more than a year of Covid health crisis, remote working is settling in France with a "hybrid" model of work - on site and remotely. Although conditions have improved, collective dynamics have been "damaged" and health risks in particular have emerged, according to a new survey.
A survey of 2,864 respondents was conducted online from 24 February to 24 April 2021 by the French network of national and regional agencies for the improvement of working conditions (Anact-Aract). Among the respondents, 57% belong to private structures, 42% public structures, 71% are executives including 36% managers and 74% are women.
The survey, published on Monday shows that in 2021, as in 2020, employees want to maintain a high level of remote working: more than 3 days a week for 36% of respondents, up to 1 or 2 days for 56%.
Amandine Brugière, responsible for technical and scientific developments at Anact, told RFI that society is facing a kind of paradox.
"On the one hand, the majority of employees want remote working to be extended. But we also have a series of negative impacts which question the way we can support remote working and the hybrid forms of organisation that it will entail, between those who are on site and those working remotely," she says.
After a year of massive work-from-home and three lockdowns, nearly three quarters of respondents believe they have an appropriate hardware environment (72% compared to 67% in 2020) and adequate digital tools (95% compared to 87% in 2020), but only 20% report that the company covers the additional costs associated with this type of organisation.
While observations in the field show that collective and individual learning has progressed - use of tools, cooperation, organisation of time - collective functioning has been "affected" by remote working, which also presents "health risks", the Anact network stresses.
Collective dynamics "damaged"
"On the one hand, there is an improvement in individual efficiency, but at the same time collective dynamics is somewhat damaged. In the long term, if this were to continue under the same conditions, it could harm individual efficiency and the overall performance of the company," says Amandine Brugière.
For 37% of respondents, relations at work have deteriorated. Exchanges with managers are less frequent and "the feeling of support from colleagues is decreasing, particularly among non-managers."
63% of them also feel they are "working more" (67% for managers), compared to 48% in 2020. 64% of respondents say they are 'over-connected', including those who were teleworking before the crisis began. 50% (35% in 2020) feel "tired" and 40% say they suffer from "isolation".
In total, 39% are apprehensive about returning to the workplace.
"When people return on site, 58% of them are particularly looking for a link with their colleagues. But there are strong apprehensions about returning on site, which may be linked to health reasons, but may also be due to isolation or distance, particularly in terms of reliving the collective dynamics."
Hybrid work
According to the survey, and after more than a year of Covid-19 crisis, remote working has become part of a hybrid solution combining both on site presence and remote work.
"Companies are undergoing a model transition towards a hybrid organisation where the unity of time and place are not played out in the same way. This is a big job for companies.
When do we meet, do we meet on site or not? And then, depending on the different professions in the company, the collaboration needs may be different.
Also, there are a number of professions where it is not possible to work remotely."
Before the crisis, the rate of remote working was quite low, around 7-10%. There were strong expectations from employees but employers were quite opposed to it. It mainly concerned executives. "Now the phenomenon is more massive and democratised, it will concern the whole company, " adds Brugière.
"Apart from a few companies that were already very favourable - such as Dropbox, which promotes full remote working - this shift towards remote working that was forced by the crisis, now is expected rather from employees," concludes Brugière.
