Teleworking and flexible working hours have many advantages and are easy to implement.

The legal framework is already in place, teleworking has been experimented during COVID, and many office tasks are now digitized and can therefore be performed remotely. This improves citizens’ lives without the need for politicians, voting, or conflict. With more teleworking, the quality of life for all citizens would be improved.

Teleworking does not have to be full-time; hybrid arrangements are possible. Employees can come to the office only when their physical presence is required. Teleworking should not be imposed; it can be done on a voluntary basis.

Remote work reduces commuting, thereby reducing traffic and oil consumption. This means less pollution, fewer accidents, less time wasted in traffic jams, less money spent on gas, and less need for infrastructure (roads, parking lots, trains, buses, etc.). This reduces public spending. It also reduces delays at work due to traffic jams. It also reduces the need for vehicles per person.

Teleworking and flexible hours allow companies to have fewer offices and therefore reduce costs.

Teleworking and flexible hours allow for a better distribution of activity, thereby reducing peak times and enabling infrastructure to be scaled accordingly. With more flexible working hours, supermarkets would be less crowded, for example on Saturdays, and would therefore need fewer parking spaces and less stock, meaning fewer shelves. The same applies to shops in city centers. It would also increase availability at doctors’ offices for instance.

Flexible working hours and working from home make it possible to take better care of the elderly, the sick, and children.

Teleworking makes it possible to live far from urban centers where housing is expensive. Living in a polluted suburb is bad for your health. If there were a lot of teleworking, rents in the city would be cheaper for those who want to live there, and the countryside would be revitalized. If the countryside were more populated, there would be more services and businesses outside urban centers. And that would allow people to live in the environment that suits them.

Teleworking allows people to avoid paying for expensive housing in the city. This results in greater equality of opportunity and therefore offers companies more talent to choose from. It allows companies to recruit skilled people who do not wish to live where the company is located. Teleworking allows employees to arrange their comfort in the office as they wish. Teleworking also makes it possible to hire people with physical or mental disabilities. This makes it easier for companies to recruit talents.

This helps combat loneliness, as workers can live closer to their social networks: family, friends, cultural roots, associations, etc.

Teleworking allows employees to take naps or to exercise during their breaks. Teleworking also allows them to cook. This reduces illnesses linked to lack of activity, poor diet, or lack of sleep. It therefore reduces health insurance costs, which are borne by the entire population.

Teleworking reduces the need for clothing. Fast fashion is responsible for a lot of pollution.

Teleworking is not suitable for everyone or for every type of professional activity. It should not be the norm. There are benefits without it being imposed. If part of the population teleworked full-time or part-time, that would be enough to bring benefits. Teleworking must be appropriate.

There are some jobs that are not at all suited to teleworking: reception and hospitality roles, catering, jobs that require coordination, jobs that require confidentiality, etc.

A suitable environment at home is also needed, and the employee must enjoy teleworking.

Middle managers and team leaders may resist teleworking because it makes managing their teams more complicated. Very clear criteria for success or failure must be established. Objectives are necessary. However, having clear objectives gives meaning to one’s work. It is important to know what is expected of employees. When working remotely, team managers cannot supervise employees or see them working. Since the 1970s, being professional has meant dressing a certain way, speaking a certain way, looking like you are working, and having a certain attitude. These are no longer skills. With teleworking, being professional means meeting objectives regardless of the time spent, regardless of how you speak or behave. In this way, teleworking reduces discrimination. However, employees may fear being poorly evaluated by their manager. The manager may ask them to work too much or, conversely, may think that the employee is not useful.

Being able to work remotely 100% of the time has its risks. Employees find themselves competing with workers in low-cost countries.

Physical presence is needed to promote communication. When people are physically present, body language and all what is said in social spaces are important. Many friendly conversations allow problems to be resolved without leaving a trace, without being recorded. When working remotely, everything is documented, which hinders problem solving. Hybrid solutions are more appropriate.

In the world of education, connected campus initiatives have proven their worth. These are universities that have organized themselves to offer as many courses as possible online, but with occasional attendance when necessary: laboratory work, tutorials, etc. This allows students who cannot move to the big city permanently to pursue the studies they want. For example, they may not be able to afford housing in the city, they may need to help a family member, they may have a disability, etc. This allows for greater equality of opportunity and therefore greater social mobility and more skilled people.

Translated with DeepL