Frequency, aspirations, access… Teleworking gets stuck among the French compared to its German or British neighbors but also Italian or Spanish, according to a study published on Wednesday
Teleworking has certainly imposed itself with the health crisis, but French workers have a more cautious practice than their European neighbors, according to an Ifop study for the Jean Jaurès Foundation published on Wednesday. According to this survey carried out in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, the French working population stands out “by a more restricted access” to teleworking.
When asked about their average practice of teleworking, only 29% of French working people say they telework “at least once a week”, against 51% of Germans, 50% of Italians, 42% of British and 36% of Spaniards.
The frequency of teleworking in France is less there than elsewhere. “While in other European countries, the proportion of teleworkers four to five days a week is higher than that using it two to three days, it is the reverse that we see in France”, note the analysts of Ifop.
Cleavage
In Italy, for example, 30% of working people telework for four to five days and 17% for two to three days, while in France, these frequencies concern 11% and 14% of working people, respectively.
The same is true of inequalities in access to remote work according to socio-professional category (CSP). In the five countries, CSP + have more access to telework than CSP- but it is in France that the divide is most marked with a differential of 39 points (56% of CSP + and 17% of CSP- have access to teleworking). It is eight points in Italy (56% against 48%). Likewise, when working people are asked about their aspirations, and when the average number of “desired” days of teleworking is taken, it is the lowest in France.
Faced with the wave of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the French government decided that since Monday and for three weeks, companies where this was possible had to allow their employees to telework three days a week, or even four.