Workplace diversification, workspace flexibilisation and company strategies post pandemic. Lessons from a Paris Region case study

Résumé En

The development of the knowledge economy and the growing use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are transforming office work in many ways, including from a spatial perspective. Workplaces are becoming multi-locational, and workspaces located in company premises include a growing proportion of collaborative and shared spaces (open spaces, flexi offices, collective workstation etc.). There is a growing literature on the issues arising from the current reorganisations of workplaces and workspaces, with an additional focus since the start of the pandemic, which has favored the adoption of remote working, especially homebased teleworking, and its spread to new economic sectors and fields of activity. However, there is a scarcity of data about these questions, which are the subject of this article. It investigates companies' policies about the links between remote work, workplaces and workspaces in the Paris Region (France), with specific attention to the impacts of the pandemic. It offers an analytical framework based on a literature review, and some preliminary findings drawn from 20 stakeholder interviews and the first analysis of questionnaires (200) in an ongoing online survey of company head offices. The findings suggest first that previous trends in workplace diversification, such as the regular practice of homeworking have received a boost from the pandemic. Emerging trends were also confirmed, like the use of coworking spaces or satellite offices. In addition, the spread of regular telework has prompted an expansion of the labor market area within and outside the Region. Second, while our survey does not show a clear link between remote working and increased workspace flexibilisation, some interviews suggest that multi-locational working, and in particular regular remote working, could constitute a management tool with the effects of making open-space and flexible offices more acceptable to employees.