Has the health crisis changed our relationship with work?

The landmark events of 2020, led by the health crisis, have enabled a certain number of people to question their relationship with the world, particularly the professional sphere. Administrative closures, partial unemployment and remote working have disrupted entrenched habits. The consequences, often difficult, have encouraged reflection and sparked new desires. Are they lasting, and will our way of working broadly change in the near future? Here are some answers.

Work during the second lockdown

The strategy adopted by the country this autumn aimed to avoid the upheaval experienced during the first lockdown. Isolation and lack of activity harmed both the population and the economic system, which is why work in particular remained the rule with enhanced health safety protocols. Let us examine the consequences within companies.

A rather present second lockdown

A survey conducted by flexible office provider Deskeo during the second lockdown reveals that, far from the professional desert of the first lockdown, nearly 90% of employees now go to the office, at least occasionally.

Within operating companies, the call for remote working was received in various ways, ranging from managers requiring daily attendance (38%), to rotation between employees (50%), or leaving the possibility of visits to the employee’s discretion (12%). Furthermore, workers mostly state (60% of them) that they are disappointed with the health safety measures taken within their organisations.

Changing one’s way of working?

After examining the health figures at the beginning of December, we can say that the gamble to maintain stable economic activity while allowing the number of Covid-19 infections to decline significantly appears to have paid off, and barrier measures in the office have proven effective in this regard. Although we obviously lament the total absence of activity in certain sectors, disastrous for the economy as well as for many of our fellow citizens.

The conclusion we can draw is that changing working methods is not essential for protecting oneself from the virus. It could rather come from a shift in attitudes. However, according to the Deskeo study, one in two French people would ultimately prefer a fully in-person activity, and only 11% declare themselves in favour of persistent and extended remote working. This is therefore not where we should look for significant change.

Changing life altogether!

Transport within crowded metropolises, work within organisations of excessive size, or a job that does not provide the expected personal satisfaction on top of salary – reasons for desiring a change in one’s professional life are plentiful. Taking action is not obvious nonetheless, and only the future will demonstrate the real impact of the health crisis on this point.

One in two workers expressing a desire for change

Regarding the aspiration for change, the Deskeo study shows that a good number express the desire: 57% of respondents stated they wanted to move, start a business or retrain. Some will have no choice given the difficulties encountered that caused them to lose their activity: they will have to find another job or create their own.

However, this is part of the continuity of the evolution of our relationship with work, and the health crisis merely reinforces ideas already present. Let us not forget that entrepreneurship has been developing very significantly in recent years. As highlighted in January 2020 in an article in La Tribune, the number of business creations rose by 17.9% in 2019.

Certain sectors, in a context all the more favourable after the health and economic events of the year, may gain workers at the expense of other professions, as may dynamic but less saturated regions.

Practical application

Change in everyone’s life could take two types of evolution. The first, a geographic displacement. Moving away from large cities and their inconveniences to nearby or further countryside, with a job change, or not: trains often allow surprisingly quick access to city centres. Others will prefer to make a clean break and migrate to a distant region for a more drastic change.

Secondly, retraining for a dreamed profession, a more independent activity, often exercised independently. At the top of the list of sectors gaining workers as their own bosses, we can mention:

• real estate, where there are structures offering complete training in the profession and support while one works as an independent;
• coaching, provided one has expertise in a field;
• web professions, for which it is possible to train remotely provided one has the facilities;
• craft trades, such as building or installing innovative, environmentally-friendly activities.

This list is in no way exhaustive, and these retrainings are facilitated by very accessible and simple-to-manage simplified business statuses (micro-enterprise, EIRL, etc.). A multitude of possibilities is available to a determined person!

Whether a fad or a significant evolution, the figures for 2021 in terms of business creation in particular will reveal whether the health crisis has truly had a real impact on professional aspirations. As for the internal organisation of companies, the implementation of the latest technologies enabling remote working could encourage supporting the migration of certain employees towards regions further from nerve centres – greener ones.