The annual barometer of religion in business, published by the Institut Montaigne, reports a sharp increase in situations and behaviors linked to religion. The place of Islam is clearly growing.
As every year since 2013, the Montaigne Institute published this Thursday, November 21, its barometer of religion in business. This vast study, based on the responses of 1,348 executives and 1,401 practicing employees, provides an effective indicator of the evolution of religion within society. If “in a majority of organizations, the presence of religion is regulated and managed without significant difficulties”notes the author of the report Lionel Honoré, “dysfunctions, tensions and conflicts are concentrated in a growing minority of companies”.
The first overall lesson is also clear: situations marked by religion in a work environment are significantly increasing compared to 2022, since 71.3% of those questioned witnessed it, compared to 66.7%. two years ago. This is the highest total since the barometer was put in place.
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If these facts and behaviors are “multi-religious”, “Islam is the most represented religion”specifies the report, which mentions its presence in 81% of situations, compared to 73% in 2022. In slight decline, Catholicism is present in 19% of cases, and evangelical cults in 16%. This over-representation of the Muslim religion is reflected in the wearing of religious symbols, which is increasing very sharply (36% in 2024 compared to 19% in 2022). On a global scale, the wearing or visible presence of religious symbols in the workplace also reaches 36%, compared to 21% in 2022. This is the most frequent religious fact observed at work, ahead of absences and adjustments to working hours. work (27%, as in 2022).
The place of Islam in clear growth
Negative behavior towards women is also cited as an important consequence of religious facts observed at work. It is generally characterized by the refusal to shake hands with female employees and to work with or for women. In 2024, 15% of employees surveyed witnessed such behavior, compared to 13% in 2022. And according to the barometer, “negative facts and behaviors towards women are only found among Muslim religious facts”. More generally, “if there are transgressive facts in each religion, these occupy a more important place in all Muslim facts”.
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On the other hand, Muslim employees are significantly the most stigmatized when hired. For this process, 71% of discrimination situations identified concern Muslim people, indicates the study by the Institut Montaigne. Religious behaviors associated with Islam are also much more often perceived negatively and as disruptive than those of other religions.
But the employees who see the greatest deterioration in their working conditions are the Jews. Judaism is thus identified as the religion most often affected by situations of frequent (15%) or occasional (23%) stigma and discrimination. These two figures are up sharply compared to the 2022 survey (respectively by 2% and 13%). In detail, stigma against people of the Jewish faith has particularly increased compared to 2022, going from 16% to 32%.
Age and qualification
The Institut Montaigne barometer also proves that the manifestation of religious facts at work is above all a question of age. Thus, the vast majority of situations (79%) involve people under 40 years old. More precisely, the 26-30 year old bracket is the most concerned (23%), tied with the 31-35 year old bracket, closely followed by the 20-25 year old bracket (18%). “It appears that older practicing employees express less religiosity at work”underlines the study. Cases of negative behavior towards women, attributed exclusively to Muslim employees by the report, are for example significantly present before the age of 35 and then quickly become rarer from the age of 35-40.
Finally, as in 2022, the survey also shows that the more the level of qualification increases, the less religion is present. Thus, the professional categories “workers” et “employees” represent respectively 35% and 42% of the total.
