When Typhaine’s company offered her a four-day week, including two working from home, the Montpellier woman accepted without hesitation, seeing only benefits: no more endless trams, posture presenteeism, expensive meals, and hello three-day weekends and time for yourself. But two years will have been enough to disillusion: “I never thought I would say that, but I miss the time for 100% face-to-face. »
A time that increasingly seems to belong to ancient history: in 2022, 38% of French employees say they use telework, according to the Malakoff Humanis barometer. The flex-office – not having a fixed place in the office – has already won over one in three companies surveyed, and 40% think about it, according to the Parella barometer. And now, therefore, it is the four-day week that is coming to the fore.
Despatialization
In the United Kingdom, 70 companies have tested this mode of operation for six months: 88% say they are satisfied and 86% plan to continue this rhythm. In Belgium, as part of a reform of the labor market, the “deal for employment”, the country authorizes the four-day week (with the same number of hours as in five). An experiment already initiated in Spain, and even validated in Iceland. A mistake, according to Typhaine: “They will come back to it”, she prophesies.
Because if with all these changes, the thirty-year-old has gained a lot of time on a daily basis, she realizes that she has lost even more in sociability. Where did the coffee breaks go, the afterworks Thursday, cakes to bring on Monday or team lunches? “The post-Covid world of work is suffering from despatialization. The trend started a few years before the health crisis, but it has multiplied it, ”says Sophie Prunier-Poulmaire, lecturer in work psychology and ergonomics at the University of Paris Nanterre. An Ifop* study from January 2022 showed that 34% of employees teleworking at least three days a week suffer from loneliness, i.e. 13 points more than the national average.
The end of smiles and friends
The workspace is an important place of sociability, continues the expert. Studies “of the world before” testify to this: almost all (93%) of French people consider that the company is a place where one makes friends, according to a 2013 Ipsos survey**. Even better, a 2014 study by the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED)*** showed that 14% of couples met in the context of their professional life, which is more than on dating sites.
“The face-to-face creates a binder, regrets Typhaine. All my relationships at work have deteriorated since we only come two days a week. Friends become buddies, buddies become acquaintances, acquaintances become strangers…”
Chats, Zooms, SMS and confcalls, so it’s very nice, but… “Bodies, faces, tone, gaze, presence in space influence sociability and reinforce it. Purely virtual links are more difficult to create,” continues Anne Laure Le Guern, teacher-researcher and work specialist.
Loss of meaning and binding
On paper, the promises of the end of the total face-to-face were a time saver for a social life elsewhere: in the family, in the associative environment, with her friends, Sophie Prunier-Poulmaire abounds. But in fact, “face-to-face work offered a more conducive and easier context for socialization than many situations outside of work”. Sometimes there’s no one to see except work. “For many, work is the only escape from loneliness. We are losing an essential,” worries Aude d’Argenlieu, director general of the Institute for Psychological Support and Resources. Even for those who have friends and family, the expert sounds the alarm: “Whether we find it good or not, work is an important part of people’s identity, it loses its meaning. »
Especially since this lack of binder weakens the employees: “Less sociability means less collective, therefore less solidarity and support, notes Anne-Laure Le Guern. Abuse, harassment and injustice against a worker are less likely to occur or will be more denounced in the event of strong support in the teams. »
Less face-to-face, more breaks when you’re there
Faced with these shortcomings, the employees put in place strategies: “The days of face-to-face becoming rare, we will plan our moments of conviviality in advance and insist on it. People who telecommute during the week take more breaks when they are in the office, to make the most of it, ”says Mélia Arras-Djabi, lecturer and business coach in their innovation process. Typhaine, who can choose her face-to-face days, agrees with her favorite colleagues to come on the same dates.
Romain, 27, is part of this generation graduating in 2020 and who has only known the post-pandemic world of work. It’s hard to find a place in a company when you arrive: “With two face-to-face days a week, it’s almost impossible to make friends or others. After a year, some still get my first name wrong or don’t see who I am. » A mission made even more complex due to the flex-office: « There are not the same colleagues every day and not even in the same place. How do you want to get to know each other, apart from wandering around the open space? »
Downgraded young people
Aude d’Argenlieu at the helm: “Young people are particularly exposed and vulnerable to this new world of work. Beyond the lack of social, they lose all the informal knowledge: the little advice at the coffee machine, live help, learning by mimicry. Their training is less complete, which integrates them less. »
The fact remains that steps backwards could be taken, believes Mélia Arras-Djabi: “Companies can certainly say that they are saving in place, but their employees are less well trained, have less creativity, are less loyal to the company and will make less effort for her. Who says loss of work identity says more volatile employees. Romain calls for it, strongly more face-to-face and a real office position. Something to finally feel at home.