Although Ile-de-France’s employees are still so attached to their offices, many strive to enjoy more freedom in the performance of their work, according to the results of the Paris Workplace 2023 SFL-Ifop Barometer unveiled on Thursday .
“What will your office look like in 10 years?», This is the question asked to 1,300 residents of Ile-de-France, working in companies with 10 or more employees, as part of the 10th anniversary of the Paris Workplace Barometer. Contrary to popular belief, which would suggest they are looking for a bit of stability after the Covid years, ultimately, according to the study, it turns out that “they do not expect a pause, but rather an acceleration of the coming changes“. Among them, the barometer shows above all that employees anticipate an increasing presence of artificial intelligence at work and strive for more and more freedom. On this last point, the majority of respondents (57%) think that it is the norm will be to live in the region while working in Paris.
An eloquent figure who proves that “the “face-to-face versus teleworking” debate is now outdated», underlines the barometer, insofar as it has now been adopted, for employees of Ile-de-France: “that both forms will survive in an average “3-2” balance, with 3 days in the office and 2 days remote“. The office on request «where I want, when I want, how I want» threatens to become the norm, explains Aude Grant. The deputy director of SFL (Foncière Lyonnaise) recalls that 80% of respondents believe that the possibility of teleworking is a key element when choosing to work at a company. So they imagine “an office on request“, where they can alternate between face-to-face and distance learning at their own discretion. And this, “with a modulation that depends on the moments of life, the times of the year, housing conditions and family organization», specifies the barometer.
But paradoxically, these same employees do not want too much telework to be imposed on them. In this sense, six in ten respondents are hostile to the idea of “forced to telework several days a week» and 56% of them wish “that in ten years’ time employees will be able to organize their working hours as they wish“. Same “if only 34% consider this hypothesis likely“. For Aude Grant this is because the office feels like a real “place of socialization“, Who is “almost the last place where an employee can socialize with people of different backgrounds and backgrounds, from other cultures, instead of with people who look like them“.”There is more diversity in the office», notes the office real estate specialist.
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“Absolute seal” between professional and private life
This place of socialization still needs to adapt to the new needs of employees. “The workplace has become a place to live, an essential factor when choosing to work at a company (+25 points in 6 years). In ten years we have witnessed the end of the absolute seal that could exist between these two aspects of our lives.”, notes Frédéric Dabi, Ifop’s general manager. And this is clearly reflected in the desire of employees to have offices in a neighborhood called ‘mixed“.”To choose: 80% of employees would prefer to work in a mixed neighborhood, including offices, shops and residential, than in a business district consisting mainly of offices», underlines the barometer, while 62% of respondents admit to being occasionally absent from their workplace to “take a lesson » (+9 points since 2018), 53% for “go to a medical appointment» (+15 points) and even 30% for “make a return trip to his home» (+10 points).
Another learning point according to the barometer: in 10 years the office will “must be permanently available, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week“. An ideal image for 39% of employees, who assume that it will have become the norm by then. “The workplace is more accessible and multifunctional», concludes the survey, as just under half of the employees “believe their offices will also include medical services», with consultation and rehabilitation rooms (44%), but also welfare services (such as a hairdresser (40%), and even areas for pets (31%). Utopia or reality on the horizon? No one knows, but the bets are on.