The Covid crisis, by disrupting the daily lives of many workers, has brought to the forefront the questions of the importance of work in our lives, the aspirations it gives rise to and the fulfillment it can bring us, leading many commentators to speak of a “work crisis”. What is it really like? We put the question to Olivier Galland and Sylvie Jéhanno.
This article is excerpted from the first issue of the journal Mermoz, “Work: Reshuffling the Cards”.
“Studies show a high degree of stability in attitudes towards work”
The point of view of Olivier Galland, sociologist and emeritus research director at the CNRS
For some time now, we have seen the emergence of some students, especially among students of the Grandes Ecoles, behaviours which, often in the name of environmental convictions, seem to call into question the professional orientations to which their training seemed to have destined them until now. Are these behaviors just an epiphenomenon limited to an educational elite, much more radicalized than the average young person (as shown by the recent study on Science Po students) or are they a harbinger of a major change in the relationship to work at work among the younger generations?
It is, of course, difficult to decide this question categorically, but it is prudent to refer to the available studies to assess the extent to which this change has already begun. To this end, we have at our disposal international surveys repeated over time, the European Values Surveys (EVS) and the World Values Surveys (WVS) if we want to extend the analysis to non-European countries. What do they show?
In fact, they show a high degree of stability in attitudes towards work. A classic question of this survey on the importance of work in life has been asked since 1990 (until 2018, when the last wave was released). The results are clear: the percentage of Europeans who find work “very important in their lives” is extraordinarily stable. This was the case, for example, for 62% of French people in 2018 (94% finding it very or fairly important) and 61% of them in 1990.
Of course, answering this general question in this way does not mean that all aspects of the job are considered important; It doesn’t necessarily mean that you appreciate your own work, either. But it shows that the value of work as such is not rejected, quite the contrary. However, we can rather value this or that aspect of work: rather its extrinsic characteristics (remuneration in particular) or rather its intrinsic characteristics (the possibility of fulfilling oneself in work for example). And these more or less valued qualities of work can evolve.
It is clear, for example, that young people are no longer willing to sacrifice their personal lives at work. But this does not mean that most of them have given up on finding work as a factor of personal fulfilment. In the large survey of 18-24 year olds carried out in 2021 for the Institut Montaigne, the most cited item to determine the type of job they would choose, was a job “in a field that I am passionate about” (well before the question of salary).
Has the health crisis and the development of teleworking that has accompanied it changed the situation? Have they led many individuals who have seen their work activity interrupted or take on new forms, to undertake a reflective review of their lives and the place that work holds in them? The hypothesis cannot be ruled out, but we do not have enough hindsight today to decide the question. The survey conducted in 2023 by Bertrand Martinot on the relationship to work shows that teleworkers have a much more distanced relationship to work than other employees. But what is the meaning of causality? Has teleworking led to a distancing (in every sense of the word) from work, or was it a prerequisite for some workers and has it simply found a vector in teleworking to express themselves? The question remains open.
“No [le travail n’est pas en crise], even if our model moves”
The point of view of Sylvie Jéhanno, CEO of Dalkia and co-president of the Corporate Community
We are living in a period where work has never been the subject of so much debate. Employability of seniors, value sharing, teleworking, quality of life and working hours… All these discussions reflect a profound questioning of the relationship that each of us has with the world of work and our work in particular. These issues are impacting our model and gradually fragmenting it.
To the question “Is there a labour crisis?” my answer is no, even if our model is changing and changes are being felt in the daily life of our companies. They invite us to rethink our management methods and our HR practices, to give work an aspirational dimension, and so that everyone feels part of a world of work that corresponds to them, a source of fulfillment and social mobility.
To succeed, in an international context where productivity and competitiveness are highly demanding, the reflections to be carried out seem to me to be based on four axes.
The first is training throughout the course. This starts in middle school and, if we want to show young people that their choice of career path does not lead to failure but to a meaningful profession, it is urgent to bring the worlds of national education and business closer together. The success of the apprenticeship reform contributes to this, and the reform of vocational schools must now bear fruit. Companies must seize the opportunity and get involved in it as they invest in continuing education so that the skills of today evolve into the skills of tomorrow.
The second is the recognition of work through a fair and balanced remuneration system. It is an essential lever for employee motivation and retention. Ongoing reflections on value sharing are a powerful lever for this.
The third is flexibility of work. We need to innovate because the implementation of “telework” agreements creates differences between those who can telework and those who operate in the field. For example, at Dalkia, we have just rolled out a working time agreement that allows our technicians to choose their number of RTTs from 3 formulas, in return for an adapted and proportionate remuneration. Thanks to its reversibility, this agreement allows me to choose according to the time of my life: to have more time when I have young children and less when I start working. This balance between professional and personal time is indeed at the heart of employees’ concerns.
The fourth is the meaning given by the company’s mission and strategy. It is becoming increasingly clear that the choice of younger generations to join a structure also depends on the latter’s policy in terms of social responsibility. At a time when many professions are under pressure to recruit, it is strategic for the company to provide clear answers in terms of positive societal and environmental impacts: low-carbon trajectory, biodiversity, recruitment policy (diversity, inclusion, disability, etc.). In the end, it is all the company’s employees who adhere to it and find it a source of motivation.
Finally, in order to succeed, and because I am convinced that it is a factor of performance and cohesion, companies will have to commit themselves to help shape a more inclusive society. They must also commit to accelerating their fight against climate change. To finally commit to recreating the link, the one that defines the relationship that each of us has with work and that I hope will be as aspirational and harmonious as possible!