Do the French have a more difficult relationship with work than their European neighbors? Do people work less in France out of a taste for leisure, as some claim? No, says a group of economists, supporting figures.
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Is there a divorce between the French and work? Could this explain the economic and social difficulties in France? The debate arose on the basis of a note published last November by the Jean Jaurès Foundation and entitled “Big fatigue and epidemic of laziness: when some of the French put their thumbs in“. This debate may seem above ground in the current economic context, but the arguments deserve to be compared.
Initially, Jérémie Peltier, director of the Jean Jaurès Foundation and Jérôme Fouquet of Ifop, authors of the note, explain how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed our lifestyles, consumption and work, with the consequence, in particular , increased free time. A loss of motivation that would affect one in three French people, according to the authors, who are based on a survey carried out last year.
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No flame epidemic
The Transition Demography, Economic Transition Chair of the Louis Bachelier Institute answers: on the contrary, employment rates among young people are on the rise again, especially among 20-24 year olds, more likely to work in 2021 than before. the years leading up to the Covid crisis. Conclusion: the figures show no trace of a “great laziness” on the part of the employees. The problem is elsewhere.
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France is currently experiencing a questioning of work, its organization and its values. As the sociologist and philosopher Dominique Méda regularly explains, the French still expect a lot from their daily life in the company but reject the conditions where stress, hardship, the imperative of figures and the absence of recognition are mixed. An endless debate between economists and sociologists. No epidemic of laziness therefore, but rather the expectation of a new report to work.
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