The French would like to telework more. According to a study by Ifo and Econpol Europe broadcast by the echoes, workers on average would like to enjoy 1.4 days a week of remote work. A request that comes as France seems to be one of the countries where teleworking is least applied. On average according to this study, employees work 0.6 days a week from home, indicate these jobs published in mid-July, just over half a day a week.
By comparison, teleworking seems to be practiced much more in Anglo-Saxon countries. In the United States or the United Kingdom, employees work remotely respectively 1.4 and 1.5 days a week. Canada seems to be the champion of teleworking since it is practiced 1.7 days a week.
Still obstacles for entrepreneurs
France is also below the world average of 0.9 days a week. In Europe, only Greek employees practice this mode of work less than the French, with only 0.5 days a week. If the number of teleworking days is so low in France compared to the average day and a half desired by employees, it is mainly because French companies are reluctant to establish it.
Among the arguments commonly put forward to justify limiting the use of teleworking, there are, in particular, difficulties in communication or in carrying out teamwork. The work of the Japanese researcher Masayuki Morikawa (2020) shows that the use of teleworking in Japan was accompanied by a 30% drop in productivity at the beginning of the health crisis. This effect can be explained in particular by the communication and coordination costs between colleagues induced by remote work. An OECD study published in July finds that the productivity of telecommuting employees increases during the first few days of remote work before gradually declining.
The OECD also points out that teleworking is more implemented in the most innovative companies in terms of managerial practice. It is also in these companies that the productivity of teleworkers is highest on average, suggesting that employers have an essential role to play in making the use of telework “successful”.
The French want to telework less than their neighbors
However, despite this significant difference between the number of teleworking days desired and those actually carried out in France, French employees seem less fond of working from home than many of their neighbours. The ideal number of teleworking days per week (1.4) is lower than in most European countries.
In Germany and Greece, the number of desired remote work days is, on average, just under two days a week, while, for example, it exceeds two days in Spain. This is much less than in Anglo-Saxon or Latin American countries where workers would like to be away from the office between two and two and a half days per week on average.
For this study, 42,426 employees aged 20-64 were interviewed in April and May 2023 in 34 countries.
Source: BFM TV
