A study unveiled this Thursday by France Stratégie looks for the first time at the territorial effects of remote working.
It appears in particular that the urban exodus did not take place, the pandemic having simply accelerated an already established trend.
In addition to the place of residence, this impact is mainly observed on transport, housing and company offices.
Creativity, absenteeism, salary increases and promotions, distribution of domestic tasks… if studies on the effects of teleworking have multiplied since the Covid-19 crisis, a survey published by France Strategy, officially the “General Commission for Strategy and Foresight”, this Thursday, November 14, addresses the underside of remote working from a new prism: that of territorial impacts.
It appears that teleworking “produces diffuse effects on the territories, with a modest accentuation of ongoing trends, difficult to measure, which limit its exploitation as a lever for public policies.” In more detail, this impact is mainly observed on transport, housing and business offices, indicates the think tank attached to the Prime Minister’s services.
RER, TER, plane… what impact on transport?
“In Île-de-France, teleworking has not reduced road traffic, but it has led to a reduction in public transport use during rush hours,” can we read on the website of France Strategy , which emphasizes that“between 2019 and 2023, the latter saw their activity drop by 15%”, notably the RER. In other words, the people questioned reduced their use of public transport for their home-work journeys, but did not reduce their use of the car for other daily trips. And to detail: “Environmentally, although it helps reduce the number of home-work journeys, it can increase travel for other reasons. Teleworkers live significantly further from their workplace (28 km on average) than other assets (14 km).”
“Similar trends are observed in other large metropolises such as Lyon, with automobile traffic decreasing in Rennes or Toulouse,” while “the use of TERs has increased significantly although this increase cannot be attributed to teleworking alone”, continues France Strategy.
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The impact of teleworking is also observed on air transport. The investigation mentions in particular “the clear reduction in Paris-Toulouse air shuttles going from 3 to 2 million commuters per year between 2019 and 2023”. The authors of the study mainly attribute this effect on the air to a “videoconferencing effect”.
What impact on housing?
According to the authors, the Covid pandemic has accelerated the trend, already established, of departures from large urban centers, starting with the capital, towards smaller towns and increasingly distant peri-urban rings. “The increase in departures from Île-de-France is partly explained by the possibilities offered by teleworking, but the effect of the latter on residential mobility remains difficult to measure”, it is however clarified.
Teleworking also strengthens demand in the housing market, particularly in tourist areas or areas well equipped with urban amenities, this study further reveals. “In areas with high tourist intensity, teleworking contributes to the craze for second homes and for short-term rental of part of the housing stock, which leads to the ousting of local residents,” we can thus read.
What impact for corporate offices?
In the largest metropolises, teleworking promotes “a reduction, even partial, of the office space used, allowing companies to relocate to central locations or qualitatively reorganize work spaces”, further note France Strategy. “In Île-de-France, the office real estate sector is in crisis with a drop in take-up of 17% in 2023, i.e. a level 12% below the ten-year average, a fall in one year of 23% of the average price in the second half of 2024 and a continued increase in vacancy (7.9% of existing stock, or 4.7 million empty square meters in 2023)”details the analysis note, emphasizing that “to a lesser extent, we observe a similar situation in the metropolises of Lyon and Lille.”
“We are thus observing a trend towards the relocation of offices towards city centers to the detriment of the outskirts which, when they are devoid of amenities (transport, services, shops), experience high rates of tertiary vacancy with no prospect of rapid reuse available surfaces”, concludes France Strategyspecifying that “These developments also present a risk of eviction from housing in central or best-connected neighborhoods.”
