More than three-quarters (77%) of those surveyed say they are satisfied with their work. This is what emerges from the survey conducted by the Institut Montaigne, and more particularly by Bertrand Martinot, economist and author of the survey, and Lisa Thomas-Darbois, project manager at the Institut Montaigne*. The French laboratory of ideas notes that this statistic has changed very little in recent years, despite the health crisis. First factors of satisfaction among working people, good career prospects and recognition of their work by managers. Satisfied workers would particularly appreciate their good relations with their colleagues and managers, their autonomy in their work and the fact of having an adapted working time.
In terms of working time, working people are generally satisfied with their working time (82% of positive opinions) and the majority say they have found a balance between private and professional life. Teleworking has something to do with it, with, for those who use it, positive impacts on both their personal and professional life balance, their autonomy and their efficiency at work. Unlike other studies, the Institut Montaigne survey also shows that teleworking would not have a significant effect on effective working time. Nevertheless, at least 35% of respondents say they have more atypical hours and often or always work at weekends, in the evening after 8 p.m. and/or on public holidays..
« A rightful place ” work
The feeling of satisfaction felt by the majority of working people goes hand in hand with another result, namely that two thirds of working people consider that work occupies “ a rightful place” in their lives, according to the survey. Among those who are ‘happiest’ at work are business leaders, craftsmen and the liberal professions. It should be noted that the self-employed are on average more satisfied than employees in the public or private sector (7.6/10 against 6.7/10). This gap in “happiness” at work could be explained by the advantages linked to status, namely the absence of hierarchy and flexible working hours. Nevertheless, the self-employed work more than full-time workers, ie 45.8 hours per week, on average, compared to 39.8 hours for all workers. It should be noted that a third of the assets, all categories combined, would be ready ” to work more to earn more”. In the end, if they do not work longer than before, they undoubtedly have the feeling of having more to do on the same volume of work. Thus, 60% of workers say that their workload has increased over the past five years.
Remuneration as the first factor of dissatisfaction
This perceived increase in the workload would ultimately be more a result of a lack of support from management, a psychological load or low autonomy. This confirms the requirement of the assets vis-à-vis their working conditions and their relationship with their hierarchy. Beyond this increase in the intensity felt at work, the first factor of dissatisfaction remains the remuneration, for 46% of the respondents, both self-employed and salaried. The typical employee profile dissatisfied » ? An employee with a high psychological load who does not feel supported by his manager. More objectively, it would be a non-manager, with high seniority, frustrated by telework, “ especially if the latter is prohibited, while it is technically possible ».
Not work longer
Last point highlighted by the study, the massive refusal to postpone the retirement age. Apart from the working people most satisfied with their work who would like this postponement more significantly, overall, only 7% of working people believe that the retirement age is not not high enough “, while 48% find it” too high “. More particularly, certain categories of assets consider that this is already excessive: these are in particular the under 35s (59%), blue-collar workers (56%) and CSP- (54%). The typical profile of an active person wishing to postpone the legal retirement age to over 62 is a person with a CSP+ profession (farmers, craftsmen, traders), generally older. However, there is no question for them of retiring under any condition. Thus, only a minority (44%) would like to leave early, even if it means seeing their pension reduced. In addition, 41% would like working conditions to be adjusted before leaving.
* Survey by the Institut Montaigne with the help of Kearney, carried out online by Kantar Public in September and October 2022, among a representative sample of 5001 active French workers.
Charlotte DE SAINTIGNON
