Fin 2024, environ un tiers des entreprises américaines exigeaient une présence à plein temps, 38 % avaient une approche hybride et moins de 30 % laissaient leurs employés choisir. vm/Getty Images
Telework is no longer in vogue in the United States. The increasing number of returns to face-to-face work is causing many discontent and is not necessarily beneficial for the company.
“No one grows up dreaming of one day being chained to a desk in a company”, says Curtis Sparrer, a pioneer of telework, who rejects one by one all the arguments of large American companies determined to bring their employees back five days a week.
“It's the mark of an implicit lack of trust, as if you have to see people to make sure they're doing their jobs”, explains this head of a public relations agency, from the room in his apartment dedicated to teleworking, with a view of the rooftops of San Francisco.
At the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, the hybrid organization, with two or three days a week in person, was all the rage, with a few exceptions, such as Goldman Sachs and Tesla, which quickly imposed a return to full time.
But five years after the first lockdowns, several large groups are rejecting this way of working. The issue has even become political. Elon Musk, to whom Donald Trump has entrusted an advisory mission to the government, wants to eliminate all remote work for federal employees.
At Amazon, engineers and administrative staff had to return five days a week at the start of the year. More than 90% of them are unhappy, according to a survey by the professional social network Blind in September, after the announcement.
On Reddit forums, users say they have given up on applying to the online retail giant because of this rule.
Others speculate that it is a method of reducing the workforce without a social plan, but believe that the group will lose its best employees.
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The announcement of the end of remote work in March at JPMorgan Chase is no better past.
Employees posted so many comments about their concerns (transportation costs, child care, etc.) on an internal platform last week that the bank shut down the section, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“We really hope that this doesn't lead to attrition … which results in negative selection,” Jeremy Barnum, the bank's chief financial officer, said at an analyst conference Wednesday.
“It's really disappointing, I felt like we were making so much progress, and that remote work was becoming the norm in the country,” Curtis Sparrer said.
When he founded Bospar in January 2015, he opted from the outset not to lease office space, to save money and also to be able to recruit people beyond San Francisco and New York. York.
Ten years later, he has no regrets.“An office represents many things: the power of the person with the window in the corner, and therefore feelings of inequality. The risks of sexual harassment. Or contagion, when someone is sick. Gossip. The sounds of chewing”, he lists.
He sees teleworking above all as a major way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, knowing that the majority of Americans drive to work. “And office buildings are nightmares in terms of energy waste”, assures the entrepreneur.
In addition, by staying at home, employees are also more likely to cook instead of having meals delivered, recycle their waste, etc., according to a study carried out for Bospar.
“Where, when, how”
By the end of 2024, about a third of U.S. companies required full-time presence, 38% had a hybrid approach, and fewer than 30% let their employees choose, according to the “Flex Index,” a study by IT solutions company Scoop.
DrFirst, a healthcare software company, had three offices before the pandemic. Today, its 400 employees work remotely.
Management made the decision in 2023 after conducting research: “More than 85% of people reported an improvement in their quality of life and mental or physical health,”, says Mathew Carrico, chief human resources officer. “And productivity was always high,” he adds.
The company has created interest groups to create bonds between colleagues, regular meetings to make employees feel valued and a performance system based on quarterly objectives.
“We don't tell them where, when, how. We trust them, but there are also mechanisms to make sure the work gets done,” he sums up.
Heather Happe, a DrFirst employee for almost 14 years, is happy to escape the traffic jams. “At the beginning, we tended to never stop working”, she remembers. “But we find a balance. (…) and I see my son, my animals and my plants a lot more!”.