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We often read that morale is at half mast in companies in France. A study by the Montaigne Institute contradicts the idea that the French have been reluctant to work since the Covid-19 crisis. On the contrary, they tend to invest themselves even more in their professional life.
Nearly 5,000 French workers were questioned on the relationship they have with their work. More than three quarters of them (77%) say they are satisfied with their work – a proportion that has changed very little despite the health crisis. Several factors contribute to this feeling of satisfaction, such as enjoying a certain degree of autonomy, having suitable working hours and maintaining good relations with colleagues and managers.
Remuneration, recognition and development prospects remain the black spots
However, the French continue to be unhappy with their level of remuneration (46%), their prospects for professional development (41%) and their lack of recognition at work (38%). Added to this is the impossibility of teleworking. Some employees surveyed are frustrated at not being able to work remotely due to the nature of their professional activity, even though the Montaigne Institute claims that 48% of jobs in France lend themselves to this mode of organization.
Others complain of not being able to telecommute as much as they would like, that is to say two to three days a week in the majority of cases. The authors of the study believe that this dissatisfaction around flexible working could, in the future, be “generating a new divide between employees“.
Extended hours
Contrary to what the appearance of concepts such as “quiet quitting” suggests, the French do not work less than before. On the contrary, they go far beyond the framework of the 35-hour week. Full-time workers devote, on average, 39.8 hours per week to their professional activity, compared to 45.8 hours for the self-employed. A workload deemed “normal” in both cases.
At the same time, office hours are disappearing in favor of more atypical schedules. More than a third of respondents say they work “often” or “always” on weekends, in the evening after 8 p.m. and/or on public holidays. This elasticity of schedules is closely linked to the fact that 60% of professionals believe that their workload has increased over the past five years. A quarter (26%) of them even believe that it has become excessive.
Changing jobs continues to make some working people dream
But what is it really? The Montaigne Institute study explains that this feeling of overload is linked to “an intensification of work or its new forms of organization“, rather than its duration as such. The lack of support by management, the psychological load or the low autonomy play an important role in this feeling. If the French seem very divided as to their aspirations in terms of change in their working time, a third of full-time employees (31%) want to “work more to earn more.” This is twice the proportion of those who say they want to “work less, even if it means earning less”.
Another subject of questioning among the French: professional mobility. Most working people would like to evolve in their company to a different position, while 37% would simply like to leave it within two years. Changing jobs continues to be a dream for some of the working people in France. But the study notes a significant gap between the wishes expressed for professional retraining and the reality of the figures: 22% of employees say they have already considered changing jobs but have not done so.