Is the city becoming a huge office?

Our survey, based on more than 3,000 respondents, showed that 7.5% of tertiary employees had a regular practice of teleworking before the health crisis, with 74% present 5 days on site, but that they are now more than 80 % wanting to practice it.
There will be a before / after 2020 in terms of the balance between distance and face-to-face work. Respondents, however, had a great capacity for adaptation. They found that even intense distancing resulted in gains in autonomy for 74% of them, concentration for 88%, organization for 77%, with less fatigue for 72%. There is then a potential gain in quality of life with distance ... as long as you are well connected. 88% of respondents rated their digital working environment as satisfactory, but 12% did not.

All these elements converge in a major lesson: it is possible to work remotely and even to manage your teams, as long as the managerial relationship has not deteriorated for 86% of respondents. On the other hand, the main challenge of tomorrow's work, largely "outside the walls" of the company, will be to be connected to your company in all circumstances.

However, intensely distancing work has its limits. Intra-team links remained good during the crisis, but 60% of respondents admit to interacting less with other teams. In addition, 92% of respondents say they are eager to meet their colleagues under normal conditions. Excessive distancing presents risks at the individual, collective and organizational scales and the face-to-face / distancing balance will have to be redefined.

Work "within the walls" of the company will not disappear because nomadism is always accompanied by a strong need for a central place, at the risk of wandering. Business premises will undoubtedly be less frequented but through a more intense experience necessary for the construction of the identity of the worker. A new working space is emerging, however, with employees 92% eager to gain freedom in their management.

The city of tomorrow will therefore be the one in which we can work Any Time Any Where. It will most certainly be a physical and digital workspace. The digital offer of the territories will be central in the spatial strategies of employees because it directly impacts the quality of remote work and therefore the overall quality of life. Smart Office and Smart City will define the work of tomorrow in an increasingly phygital urban environment.

Frédéric Miquel