Canada is now occupying the world’s first place in terms of telework among university degree professionals, according to the most recent study by Global Survey of Working Arrangements.
Posted at 7:30 a.m.
On average, these Workers spend almost two days a week at home, thus ahead of the United Kingdom, the United States and India. This could look like a simple statistic on the world of work hides an interesting reality concerning our eating habits, our purchase choices and our time management.
It is a structural transformation which quietly rewrites the rules of our food economy. Less trips also mean fewer meals taken outside. The pace of daily meals has changed. Cafes and catering areas of the city center are emptying, while grocery stores, delivery services and meal boxes take a growing place in our daily lives. For millions of Canadians, the kitchen table becomes the new cafeteria.
For grocers and food suppliers, this development is not trivial. Workers who spend more time at home possibly do their races more often during less busy hours and expect to find fresh ingredients, smaller formats and a fluid delivery service. We observe a rise in popularity of small grocery formats in residential and suburban areas, and a strong demand for convenience without compromise on quality. The retailers must adapt to this mutation consumer, who lives and works in the same place and who perceives food as much as a necessity as as an expression of his lifestyle.
On the other hand, all this results from a theory. People who work from the house spend not only more time in the kitchen, but they should also spend more in grocery stores.
However, the most recent data in Statistics Canada reveal that Canadians spend an average of $ 311 per person per month at the grocery store, about the same amount as a year, despite inflation. However, their restaurant expenses increased by almost 3 % over the same period, reaching $ 198 per month per person. The average Canadian spends 39 % of his food budget at the restaurant, compared to 37 % a year ago.
It must be said that teleworking, if it promotes meals at home, also seems to stimulate the desire to go out, in particular to socialize and break isolation. Cafes and small neighborhood restaurants thus become popular places to meet friends or work differently, generating a new balance between the house and the outside.
Finally, a broader question is starting to emerge, both among companies and in economists: what are the repercussions of this development on productivity?
The advantages of telework are well documented and lead to a reduction in travel, increased flexibility, better work/personal life balance. But concerns are growing up to hidden costs, especially in sectors based on collaboration, creativity and informal exchanges. Productivity data in Canada remains shared, and some employers discreetly begin to question the real long -term hybrid work.
For the food industry, either retail, food services and distribution, a drop in traffic in the city center is also reflected in a decrease in impulsive purchases, business meals, and in weakened demand in urban markets. The repercussions are felt throughout the economy.
In short, the culture of telework in Canada does not only transform office life: it also redesign our food systems, our consumption habits and perhaps even our productivity, but for how long?
