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Most often reserved for executives since the end of the Covid pandemic, teleworking has become more desirable, allowing employees who benefit from it to improve their working conditions and their health, according to two studies published Tuesday.
Before the health crisis, remote working only concerned less than one employee in ten, most often one day per week at most, according to the responses of several tens of thousands of employees to three surveys on working conditions and experienced at work, which served as the basis for the analysis of Dares, the studies department of the Ministry of Labor.
During the pandemic in 2021, nearly a third of employees were affected, mostly three days a week or more. In 2023, there will be only 26%, four-fifths of which last one or two days, or occasionally.
Between 2021 and 2023, the share of executives among teleworkers increased from 45% to 61%, while that of intermediate professions lost ten points, from 36% to 26%. It is 12% among employees and only 1% among workers.
Some 2.2 million employees in teleworkable positions do not telework but wish to do so, according to the study, which specifies that this pool “is concentrated in professions where the practice of teleworking is most often well established“, such as secretaries, accountants or employees of banks and insurance companies.
In total, a third (34%) of employees want to work remotely, the majority between two and four days a week, with only 8% wanting to do so full time.
“Overall, there is a gap between wishes and practice, which already existed in 2021, but it was rather people who wanted (…) to reduce their amount of teleworking, now they want to do more“, underlined during a presentation to the press Louis-Alexandre Erb, one of the authors of the study.
Differences between women and men
“Teleworkers have more autonomy and work less intensely when they are remote rather than on-site“, also notes a second study by Dares, based on the responses of more than 38,000 people to a survey.
The main location for teleworking is 98% the home, and in only 2% of cases a specific space, for example co-working, and 45% of teleworkers have a room dedicated to teleworking at home.
Compared to working within a collective, remote working reduces interruptions to tasks and the pressure felt, the downsides most often cited being the absence of discussions or support from colleagues, or even the lack of suitable resources made available.
In terms of health, the situation has changed radically in just a few years. “Teleworkers had a higher proportion of employees with impaired health, disabilities or a high risk of depression“, recalls the study.
But in 2023 “teleworkers are generally in better health than other employees who do not practice teleworking, even if they believe that their functions would allow them to do so“.
However, women who work remotely have a greater tendency than others to engage in presenteeism, that is to say, not to stop when they are sick, while there is no notable difference among men depending on whether they telework or not.
According to employees’ statements, working from home allows “better balance between professional and private life within teleworking couples, especially for men“who spend more of the time saved on transport”for leisure and childcare, while women reserve it more for domestic work“.
Therefore, “even when teleworking is practiced, domestic work is not better distributed between women and men, except among couples with young children.“. It could therefore promote a reduction in inequalities, but only “temporarily”.
Slide: 11 tips for optimizing your teleworking