The Transformation of Telework in France Amidst COVID-19: Implications for Management, Employee Well- Being, Economic Dynamics, Social Connectivity, and Environmental Sustainability

The etymology of the word “Têle” from Greek refers to the concept of distance [4]. Hence telework is based on the principle that workers perform tasks outside the workplace, for example finishing urgent administrative tasks at home. Many managers, project leaders, planners, designers, administrative backroom and support staff use computers. Portable laptops enable staff to do their work providing they have adequate internet connectivity.

Mechanical assembly tasks may be undertaken by people in their own homes. Remote communities may while away the short days and winter conditions at home doing what they can. Their products then may be collected and transported to market. Many tasks are location specific-gyms, cinemas, bars and restaurants for example. The pandemic lockdown simply shut many business premises because they are centres of super-spreading events. A lots of people therefore were furloughed. Those that could continue with their economic activity were encouraged to do so. Today, to define teleworking, it is important to introduce the notion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), that have essential roles supporting the realization and development of many teleworking activities [4]. French legislation (February 29, 2012) confirmed the need to introduce the notion of ICT in the definition of telework by including it in the labor law code. Article 46 [5] defines telework as follows “Teleworking is a form of work organization in which work which could also have been carried out on the manager’s premises by an employee outside these premises on a regular and voluntary basis using ICT as part of ‘an employment contract or an addendum thereto” [6].

The Origins of Telework in France: In 1993, the Prime Minister of France Edouard Balladur outlined the current state, future trends and legislation required to regulate telework for the French context studied. The subject of telework was raised at the 1995 G7 meeting in Brussels [7]. The theme developed and the political policy entitled “The European framework agreement on telework” was released by the European Union in 2002. This policy focused on the rights and duties of managers and telework employees. France adopted a version of that accord in 2005 [8]. In 2002, the French government, in line with the European Commission, initiated planning to modernize state and regional administrative’ processes via digital systems [9]. Since 2005, multiple telework tools and solutions have been adopted as the technology matured. Consequently, the number of users of ICT as well as teleworkers have grown rapidly. In 2009, an H1N1 swine flu pandemic prompted the French government to recommend telework as a solution to consider for the continuity of economic activities [10,11]. Increasing numbers of companies and employees have been able to discover and become engaged in teleworking. The French law passed March 22nd, 2012, providing a definition and a legal framework for teleworking, was named the Warsmann Law [5]. This promoted telework by private companies. Compared to other European countries like Switzerland, Sweden and Finland [12], France lagged in the development and widespread adoption of teleworking. According to the International Labor Organization [13] found between 7% and 12% of employees were teleworking in France in 2017, compared to 40% of employees in Finland and Sweden. In 2018, 61% of French people were eager to telework, while only 17% had an opportunity to do so [14]. French National Railway’s (SNCF) strikes in 2019 increased uncertainty to be able to travel reliably and when scheduled. These industrial actions that blocked public transport lasted until the beginning of 2020. According to a CSA study [15], 34% employees in the private sector used telework during these strikes. Many companies took the opportunity to reinitiate opportunities and to offer telework to their employees that could move to their alternate planned place of work [16]. The number of companies that strengthened their ICTs increased. As a result, in 2019, an additional 700000 employees in France became teleworkers, raising the number in the private sector to 5.2 million [17].

Telework during the first lockdown in France in May 2020

The Covid-19 health crisis is likely to have a significant longterm impact on teleworking in France. At the start of the crisis, in a press release on the topic “Coronavirus and the world of work” published by the Ministry of Labor, Mrs. Muriel Pénicaud estimated that in the private sector, around 8 million jobs, or more than 4 jobs out of 10 of work roles, are compatible with telework [18]. This estimation made early in the first 2020 lockdown proved to be fairly precise because during the Covid-19 crisis, the ANDRH recorded nearly 8 million teleworkers in mid-April, representing 40% of the workforce (PME-ETI, 2020). During the current health crisis, teleworking has become imperative for all those that could continue to contribute remotely. This revealed that many companies were able to implement widespread teleworking quickly as a contingency. The crisis provided an opportunity for managers and employees that were not yet familiar with telework to become aware and use it. For those still prejudiced against teleworking, lockdowns due to Covid-19 are opportunities to try, to become familiar and comfortable with remote working. The new way of working may become individual’s preferred solution because they experience certain freedoms including not facing the daily commute, being able to meet targets in a flexible way and avoiding contact with potential spreaders. However, the family situation, living situation and personalities of the workers are not to be ignored, neither should the nature of work be ignored. Although telework gives more flexibility and saves time spent on commuting, research shows that the overlap between work and home can lead to overwork and mental problems [19,20] found that remote working can lead to social isolation and loneliness, possibly more so in single households. Workers remarked that they miss talking to colleagues about work-related problems. Having a separate, private and quiet workspace within the home is not always possible, and a great disadvantage for workers living in small apartments without a separate quiet space [21]. Family households with two working partners and/or children find it difficult to juggle work and private obligations, to create and sustain such boundaries. This was more exacerbated during the lockdown when schools were closed and parents were expected to home school their children [22]. Observations concerning the confinement period include:
a. Reduced travel, reduced urban congestion that reduced of carbon dioxide and monoxide levels, reduced noise pollution and reduced epidemic “R” number that indicates the average spread rate.
b. Limited network broadband, slow data transfer speeds and signal dropouts motivated people to choose when to connect, to connect without video in teleconferences, and work offline to work at a more constant telework rhythm.
c. Employees suffering from mental overload stemming from extended work hours.
d. Higher productivity because they aren’t constantly being interrupted.

A study by consultancy Empreinte Humaine [23] specializing in “well-being” at work, found 44% of surveyed French employees felt they were psychologically distressed. By extension, work and mental overload problems have been instigated and compounded by the lack of preparation for this crisis. Of the 8 million teleworkers in France during the crisis, 75% were experiencing teleworking for the first time, sometimes without knowledge of ICT or training in the management and organization of time in teleworking [1,24] found 75% of HR managers now are teleworking at least part time.

The relationship between managers and employees in France

This crisis has allowed businesses and teleworkers to try teleworking. Not all of them had experienced it beforehand; sometimes they were hampered by doubts or apprehensions, for example employees may fear to no longer be seen or to lose social contacts; the fear for managers of no longer to be able to control employee’s work and the management role legitimacy dissipate. Employees with the opportunity to telework want to show managers their goodwill; this may dispel old biases that teleworkers would take advantage of geographic remoteness and lack of control to not get involved in the work. Many comments on social networks suggest trust could be strengthened between the employee and the manager when the manager is able to offer employees the possibility to telework. Employees seem “proud” to belong to companies that know how to adapt to these situations by prioritising the health of their workforce [1].

Global impact of Covid-19 in management of French speaking employees

The Covid-19 epidemic undeniably has impacted individual’s behavior in terms of collective adaptation. Collective and individual commitment, adaptation, health and well-being have become essential pillars of a new world of widespread teleworking and this has prompted management to question their assumptions on how to manage [25]. In “Reconciling distance and proximity, a new managerial challenge” [26], provide fresh perspectives on the lasting repercussions of the sanitary crisis that directly impact management. They summarize studies by 155 teacherresearchers, experts, consultants, business leaders, HRD, operational and functional managers, residing on 5 continents. Each of the summarized studies offers different evidence or warnings of consequences. The following briefly summarizes those contributions: Given the context remains the same concerning the interconnection of health, economic, social and environmental crises, all stakeholders may question their value add and processes, and adapt to the long-term consequences of this experience that has been unprecedented and intense. The crisis has been beneficial in terms of creating virtual proximity and commitment, something that would be less likely to have happened or would always have been delayed yet is essential for human relations and workplace team cohesion. Companies have been able to focus on their core activities and goals, creating contingency modus operandi and alternate economic models. Simultaneously, companies have trended toward humanistic approaches that take account of the social well-being of employees. They have become more concerned with the environment, gender issues and social equity in response to the major societal trends. Leadership has changed for most companies considering the changes imposed on all, but some remain stuck on their original doctrines and approaches.

An exploratory study was undertaken of 148 tweets published in French [1]. Among them 89 tweets matched the hypotheses. Realtime tweets posted on Twitter were selected using the keywords “teleworking, crisis”; “telework, overload” and “telework, employer, employee” between the start of confinement on March 16 and April 25, 2020:
a. The search string “telework, employer, employee” aimed to find testimonies concerning the evolution of the relationship between employer and employee following the crisis. 12 tweets were identified.
b. The search for the keywords “teleworks, crisis” was aimed at finding testimonies of experiences in teleworking in confinement, in order to know the irritating elements or, on the contrary, the benefits encountered by teleworkers during this period. 116 tweets were identified.
c. The search “telework, overload” aimed to find testimonies relating to cases of work overload during the telework exercise. 20 tweets were identified.

The most featured topics inside the tweets that confirmed the main hypothesis

The main hypothesis of [1] were:
a. The current crisis has proven that many companies are able to telecommute their employees if they wish.
b. Teleworking has environmental benefits.
c. The way employers handled the crisis may have influenced employees’ confidence in them.
d. Telework creates savings for both the manager and the employee.
e. The employer does not trust his employee in teleworking.
f. Employees feel more productive when they are teleworking.
g. The technology today is mature enough to practice telework under good conditions.
h. The overload in work and in mental health were reinforced by the lack of preparation for this Covid-19 crisis

The current crisis has proven that many companies are able to telecommute their employees if they wish

Eleven tweets directly corresponded to this hypothesis. Examples of the most relevant tweets are:
a. “With this crisis, we realized that teleworking only concerned a part of the workers “less than a third of the French population. We realize that however there are more of people who can telework than we thought.”
b. “What’s interesting about this crisis is that the telecommuting that employers didn’t want to hear about suddenly becomes awesome when it comes to saving their businesses #COVID19”.
c. “The current crisis has proven that many companies are able to telecommute their employees if they wish”.
d. “Funny enough the amount of service that was denied teleworking and that has worked like clockwork since the start of the health crisis and the strict containment with everyone teleworking…”
e. “The companies which until now refused teleworking to their employees and which practice it in this time of health crisis, will find it difficult to turn back the clock once the crisis has passed.”
f. “Positive point of this dramatic crisis: Some companies will realize that some teleworking positions are possible and save their employees who are struggling with hours of transport.”

Teleworking has environmental benefits

Given there was less consumption of energy in work environments and decrease in the driving to work or taking the public transportation the degree of carbon dioxide, the air quality notably increased. Reduced particulate and combustion gases were observed in the big cities like Shanghai and New Delhi.

The initial Twitter study showed 16 of 89 tweets responded to assumptions concerning environmental benefits of teleworking or the decrease in pollution. An example tweet is:
a. “After this crisis, I would like teleworking to be maintained or used by massive communities when I see how the planet is breathing!”

The way employers handled the crisis may have influenced employees’ confidence in them

Thirteen employees’ tweets reflected altered confidence in their employer as a result of dealing with the crisis. Here are a few examples:
a. “The crisis behaviour of my company is remarkable. Compulsory teleworking, shuttle to bring computers to employees, babysitting reimbursed for those who must be on site, clear, positive and responsible communication… bravo”
b. “I have not yet commented on the situation. I see a lot of people who are fortunate enough to telecommute. This is not my case and I will have to endure public transport if my business is not screwed to adapt to this health crisis.”
c. “What solution(s) for employees whose company refuses the application of instructions, in particular teleworking (when it is possible)? Let me specify that this is not my case, my organization is managing the crisis perfectly.”

Telework creates savings for both the manager and the employee

The study of tweets showed 7 of the 89 tweets responded directly to the assumptions raised reported the savings achieved through telecommuting. Here are some relevant examples:
a. “I hope this lockdown will show people that sometimes teleworking is good for both the employee and the employer. For employees less stress, no waste of time in transport. For the bosses, work that is at least as qualitative and a reduction in costs.”
b. “Teleworking: free hours. Less transport. Less pollution. No need for infrastructure anymore. Lower labor cost. Freedom to manage your children. Fewer nurseries and school teleworking, no longer need to build schools! No more crisis!”

The employer does not trust his employee in teleworking

The study of tweets showed 7 of the 89 tweets directly responded to the assumptions raised reflected the employer’s lack of trust in their employee. Two examples among them:
a. “Companies that refuse teleworking (outside of a crisis period), I don’t even apply. In 2020 it is scandalous to deny this to your employees for lack of confidence, especially when it is technically possible.”
b. “#OpenRadio concerning telework, if the employer does not trust his employee, 1 of the two people is not in his place.”

Employees feel more productive when they’re teleworking

The benefits of teleworking include a better work-life balance for employees, that should sustain the well-being of employees. Some 78% of them felt more fulfilled with their work according to a [27], because teleworking offered them a virtuous circle where they could feel better in tune with themselves and their company. That study found employees are more productive and have a better selfperception. In our Twitter study 2 out of 89 tweets corresponded directly to the assumptions reported on the productivity of telecommuting employees.

The technology today is mature enough to practice telework under good conditions

ICT offers the possibility to respond to the problem of distances between the home-based team and the manager, by compensating for the loss of its power of direct control using communication tools [28]. Collaborative software is also a way for managers to be able to control and federate the remote work of employees. More recently, the advent of corporate social media has changed the way to communicate, and it allows for a two-way dialogue between employers and employees. They can now react and give their opinions and communicate themselves on subjects that are dear to them, share their successes, their ideas and initiate projects. Of the 8 million teleworkers in France during the crisis, 75% of them experienced teleworking for the first time, sometimes without adequate knowledge of ICTs or training in the management and organization while teleworking.

Seven tweets on the subject of technology were identified. Some relevant examples:
a. “The advantage of this crisis is that massive #working pushes the networks to the maximum of their capacities and that we see that we will have to invest more massively in the future to be able to ensure the development of new technologies because we are very fair at the moment.”
b. “Now try to imagine this crisis in 1990, without internet, email, laptop, telecommuting.”
c. “The technology today is mature enough to practice telework under good conditions.”

The overload in work and in mental health were reinforced by the lack of preparation for this Covid-19 crisis

During the first confinement the employees were overworked in extended hours and mental exhaustion. According to the Opinion Way study commissioned by the consultancy firm [29], which specializes in well-being at work, 44% of surveyed French employees felt they were in a state of “psychological distress”. We found 27 tweets over 79 mentioning the overload of work during the practice of telework. Some relevant examples:
a. “Beware of the perverse effects of confinement. For those who telework it is important to know how to organize your time and not to overload yourself with work.”
b. “I’ve been telecommuting a third of the time for a year and a half. I’ve never been so overloaded with trivial things as in a week.”
c. “Teleworking in confinement leads to work overload.”
d. “Social networks can compensate for the lack of socialization often felt by teleworking employees”:

Numerous comments on social networks suggested trust could be strengthened between employee and employer when the employer manages to handle a crisis by offering employees the possibility to telework. Employees may be “proud” to belong to companies that know how to adapt to these situations because the organisation puts the health their workforce before profit.

The Covid-19 crisis that the world started to go through in early 2020 will undoubtedly mark the next phase of Adam Smith’s division of labor. The organization of work has been forced to find solutions in order to sustain economic activities. Covid-19 may be the basis of a turning point in the history of telework. Most of the employees that are eligible for this form of work were able to try it out full-time for several months. Telework conditions were neither normal nor usual and for many employees before the pandemic. They seldom were offered the option because work was done under supervision at the office. The pandemic created an urgency to ramp-up teleworking due to the many national lockdowns that imposed restricted movement. Hence, given the unfavourable environment employers and employees had to experiment with this form of work. Despite the extreme conditions of telework employees have experienced, 73% wish to be able to repeat this experience following the crisis according to a survey by [26]. It is not only on the employee side that reluctance has fallen thanks to forced telework; on the manager side, 74% of them think of offering telework on a daily basis to some of their employees. Also, the previous Prime Minister [30] had asked that this teleworking continue as much as possible and become the norm after the crisis to avoid the threat of new waves of contamination, which seems to be an option, also wise for ecology: the health crisis risks provoking a renewed interest in individual transport, since public transport is known to be a vector for viruses and bacteria. Teleworking would help limit the peak in greenhouse gas emissions after the crisis. The ecological and economic benefits for the common good are significant, which leads local authorities and the state to financially support this way of working. The economic advantages stemming from reduced commute costs and liberated time to undertake value added activities certainly are strong justifications to extend telework even as restrictions are being eased. The productivity and cost savings that telework brings will be essential to the survival of many organizations and recovery of the economy. Telework remotely, locally or off-site have been seen an unprecedented upswing during confinement; this has helped dispel preconceptions and break down resistance to this mode of work. Teleworkers perceive the ecological virtues of teleworking are proven.

Our pilot research has shown that excuses for the lack of technology and legislation are now largely consigned to the past and social networks that are part of ICT may overcome the lack of socialization associated with teleworking. The last obstacle to overcome has been the (overly) cautious mentalities based on stereotypes of teleworking that prevented employers or employees from adopting these practices. Social movements and the Covid-19 crisis have encouraged employees and employers to adopt this way of working. It has become essential to put in place new methods and create solutions to ensure a certain quality of life at work and maintain a close social bonds. With social distancing and “barrier gestures” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, social interactions became very limited in the daily lives of individuals and especially in the world of work as teleworking increased. Alternate platforms strongly performed. Facebook, TicToc, Twitter, and many others had many new accounts and more frequent users. Companies are formed of people, and their tasks typically require collaborative work. Work has become more on-line than it was and linking remote interactions regularly and reliably have become essential to ensure the proper functioning of everyone’s missions. However, something tends to feel missing in the human relationships that we usually have in our daily lives. Hence all methods, tips and close managerial actions are welcomed: appearing in person during a videoconference, addressing the teams daily using the camera, taking the temperature of the team’s morale, the state of everyone’s mind, exchanging, sharing and listening have become a daily routine and essential to the quality of life of teams at work. This is helping to reduce a distance imposed by the pandemic. Video conferencing is often the preferred communication tool in the configuration of teleworking. That allows to see and listen to the interlocutor, to discuss the little that you can see of them, their expressions, the elements of non-verbal communication, that represent 95% of overall communication. To be effective, teleworking must be aware of the culture change it implies. The role of the local manager must shift from control and monitoring to a support role that reassures and sustains the maintenance of psychological safety, mental health and social ties. In contact with the teams, the manager is able to identify and assess the level of health of his employees. Companies that manage to ensure a form of proximity to their employees at a distance in this period of uncertainty, may feel legitimate to have a management based on trust, autonomy and accountability. This may create a context that facilitates the motivation and support of the teams in the work to be carried out.

Changes in corporate culture mentioned above may stimulate and sustain changes in the forms of leadership exercised and skills needed to stimulate empathy, maintain a sense of belonging and closeness. These periods of confinement, gradual recovery and re-confinement, even if they are experienced differently, do affect individuals emotionally. This unprecedented situation requires managers to engage their emotional intelligence and to develop a relationship of trust, support and proximity. The office-places and times of work that were key landmarks in the past, as a distributed entity no longer has to respect locations or borders. Now that ICT tools are available, interaction and sharing platforms have become a place of work and collaboration. Management has been forced gradually to learn to develop each person’s commitment in this context, a relationship of trust, by relying on collective sharing processes and operations. The manager’s mission is to advance awareness, promote openness and acceptance of change, to maintain optimism, positivity and channel energies towards sustainable and pleasant solutions for his teams. In summary, the main mission of the management of tomorrow is a humanist, unifying and motivating mission. This is how employees may give meaning to their work and maintain intrinsic motivation [3].

The second phase of this research requires analysing 105000 tweets in French about teleworking during the COVID-19. This phase is being undertaken with the contributions from Sen. Prof. David Newlands in IESEG Business School and Dr. Fatma Güneri in LiTL, ICL. The authors thank Alexandre Tarel (graduated from ISTC, ICL), Camille Selosse (Graduated from ISTC, ICL) Deniz Akbiyik (University of Lille), Fiza Brakel-Ahmed (Vrije University of Amsterdam), Jude Ozor (ICL), Fernado Martin Espejo in the Catholic University of Leuven for their precious contributions to research.

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