The Future of Work: Expectations and Projections of Ile-de-France Employees

When it swept across the world in 2020, Covid-19 had a considerable impact on the organization of work and the relationship that workers have with their jobs. However, the health crisis could only be the beginnings of even greater revolutions in the future.

In any case, this is what emerges from the 10th Paris Workplace barometer, produced with Ifop, which attempted to explore the expectations and projections of Ile-de-France employees. To the question “what will the office look like in ten years?” », They expressed a lot of concerns and a real demand for freedom in the organization of work.

Artificial intelligence will replace tedious tasks…

“Tomorrow, a robot to help me, the day after tomorrow, to replace me. » This is in essence the fear expressed by Ile-de-France residents in the face of the technological acceleration of recent years, in particular with the latest arrival: artificial intelligence.

However, a certain enthusiasm is felt on this subject. 55% consider it likely that, before the end of the next decade, “artificial intelligence will generate all the documents, so that we only have to correct them”. Better still, 41% of employees are betting that they “will no longer use a keyboard, and will control everything by voice”. The youngest go even further. More than one in two employees under the age of 25 imagine hologram meetings (62% compared to 44% of the entire panel). Jean-Luc Mélenchon like this.

…and the employees?

Except that by doing everything for us, artificial intelligence could end up doing everything for us. Like what robots have done in factories, AI could replace the majority of employees in office jobs according to 42% of respondents (53% among those under 25).

Worse, 36% of employees imagine a “Black Mirror” scenario where control systems would be reinforced in teleworking, with an obligation to keep their camera on at all times and to remain glued to their screen, under penalty of sanction. A control that could also apply to the office. Even greater concern among employees with modest incomes (52%, or 18 points more than among the highest incomes).

Employees not ready to leave the office

A worrying plot that goes against the aspirations expressed. Firstly because the office is increasingly seen as an essential place for socializing. It is even the primary motivation for employees to come and work there according to 48% of respondents (+6 points in four years). Among the youngest, 62% even consider their colleagues “friends”.

Half of those questioned even believe that the office is “a place of life”, and not just a “place of work”. This is why they see in the technological revolution a saving of time which could be reinvested in social relations. An ambition mainly shared by those under 25 (70% compared to 49% of all those surveyed.)

We are far from the “end of the office” imagined by employees during the health crisis which, for 43% of them, meant that “in a short time, companies will no longer need offices”. “Only” 34% think it is likely today.

Work “where I want, when I want, how I want”

Moreover, according to them, the ideal duration of weekly teleworking amounts to an average of 2.3 days. Only 0.7 days more than before Covid in 2019.

Above all, employees aspire to more freedom in their organization and in the choice of their workplace. A sort of “where I want, when I want, how I want” according to the study. No more choice between face-to-face and teleworking. One, two, three days a week? One way or the other? Employees no longer want to ask themselves the question and are campaigning for a free organization, where everyone can choose to go to the office, take time off for an errand and return to finish their day at home if they wish, according to their needs and its possibilities.

“If we really use the office like we watch a Netflix series, on demand, then in ten years it will have to be permanently accessible, 24/7: 39% of employees bet that this will have become a standard within ten years,” estimates the study. A practice which would be accompanied by a transformation of the work environment. Multi-use, almost half of employees think that their offices will include medical services such as consultation or rehabilitation rooms (44%), but also well-being services, and even spaces to accommodate pets , for 31% of them.

The desire for greener offices

If we do not yet know if they will be freer in ten years, one thing is certain, they will be “green”. The Workplace barometer even shows a real sensitivity to ecology. A sensitivity supported by their employers since 74% of employees believe that their companies encourage them to “limit their energy consumption” (+ 17 points since 2021), to promote soft mobility (+ 8 points) or to sort waste (+5 points).

But in the face of global warming, which will continue to hit ever harder, these measures will not be enough. Ile-de-France residents are therefore imagining more radical measures. Thus 45% of employees (53% for the highest incomes) consider it likely that in ten years, “business travel by plane will be prohibited or severely limited”. 62% even want it.

Other, more daily measures are being imagined. 40% of respondents see hot water disappearing from their company’s toilets, and for 21% of them, meat will disappear from company restaurants. Another disappearance envisaged, and desired, is that of unnecessary light and heating: 69% are banking on the advent of offices where “light and heating will be adapted automatically according to the occupancy of the building. »