Back in the office: is teleworking the end of the road?

After being imposed during the COVID, relaxed in recent years and mixed with face-to-face work, telecommuting is now banned in many companies. The movement, initiated in the U.S. by large companies like Amazon and supported by Donald Trump via an executive order banning telecommuting for federal employees, is now reaching Switzerland. Why this radical change of direction? Is this reversal desirable, or even realistic? A look back at the issues surrounding a practice that divides despite its proven benefits.

Many companies in Switzerland and around the world are calling their employees back into the office, requiring them to be on site 5 days a week from one day to the next. Amazon and Google launched the movement in the USA, followed by Disney and Dell. In Switzerland, the Swatch Group is said to be among the organizations that have recently adopted this stance. (Bilan, July 2024)

Why this trend?

Fostering creativity, innovation and performance, maintaining social interaction, restoring corporate culture: these are the arguments most often put forward. As Forbes magazine revealed, these motivations conceal a darker reality: the desire to reduce headcount without making direct layoffs. Another gloomy scenario is the need for excessive control on the part of managers who do not trust their teams. But if these scenarios reflect reality in some cases – and certainly far too often – the questions and justifications for a return to the office may nonetheless be rooted in more genuine reflections.

Indeed, the question of fairness between employees whose job nature allows them to work in the home office and others, whose function de facto requires them to be present on site, is a very thorny issue. It’s a difficult equation to solve if both populations are not to feel discriminated against.

At Loyco, the disintegration of the corporate culture is also a concern in an organization where telecommuting is a practice that is part of the mores. “Loyco was built on trust: our Loycomates have been able to work since our creation in 2013 at the time they want, from wherever they want. Going backwards is not compatible with our culture. However, the reduction in office hours is a real challenge for team cohesion, and our ambition is clearly to increase them. The measures envisaged are not coercive, but centered on the pleasure of seeing each other, the organization of face-to-face team sessions, events or getaways,” asserts co-founder Christophe Barman.

A look back at the introduction of teleworking

It’s worth remembering, however, that telecommuting, which aroused a great deal of enthusiasm at the end of COVID, also has its advantages: it allows greater autonomy and freedom of action, less commuting time, and Tender the possibility of carrying out certain domestic tasks. It therefore greatly reduces the stress of transport and daily life. Not to mention the positive environmental impact, which has been demonstrated in all its power during confinement episodes.

Above all, and here lies the thorny issue, it has become part of the reality for many workers in Switzerland, as shown by a recent survey of 85,000 members of the associations of “the platform” which include the Swiss Society of Commercial Employees, Employés Suisse, Swiss Leaders, SwissAccounting, the Zürcher Gesellschaft für Geschäftsmanagement ZGP, Sales Swiss, the Association des cadres des transports publics ACTP and Swiss Engineering. “Teleworking has become part of our daily lives: the proportion of professionals in Services and knowledge-based professions who regularly work in the home office has risen from around 30% to almost 90% over the past four years. The majority also prefer to work two to three days a week in the home office”. (HR Today, December 2024)

Swiss law is trying to do just that.

This study comes at just the right moment in a debate on the revision of the Labor Act, which came into force in 1964. “The draft from a National Council committee […] envisages extending from 14 to 17 hours the interval during which the working day must be completed, while the minimum rest period will be increased from 11 to 9 hours. The minimum rest period will be reduced from 11 to 9 hours. ATS dispatch, picked up by Blick. A revision that would make sense, given that the current law is designed for fixed working hours and is poorly adapted to the reality of telecommuting.

“The law urgently needs to be adapted to the lived reality of flexible working models and lifestyles, in order to meet the changing needs and expectations of working people and employers alike,” says Ursula Häfliger, Platform Director, in a statement. However, this potential flexibilization of work must not be at the expense of health. For this reason, particular attention must be paid to health protection in the context of the amendment to the law. Certain limits must be set to the decompartmentalization of work.” (HR Today, December 2024)

Indeed, the left-wing is opposed to this reform, which it believes does not provide sufficient safeguards to protect employees’ mental health. It would simply reduce the minimum rest period without imposing any other well-defined limits to protect teleworkers. A case to be followed, but one which demonstrates both the complexity of the issue and the fact that telecommuting is firmly entrenched in Swiss habits.

So what do we do?

So, is it really realistic to ask employees to return once and for all to a purely face-to-face working environment? Indeed, while telecommuting seemed to be an acquired benefit, many workers have organized their lives around this reality, and a return to it seems inconceivable. As Michel Paillard, Specialist in Corporate Health Management and Psychosocial Risks and sworn FSM Mediator at Loyco, points out, “the obligation to return to the workplace will not go unchallenged, and people will find ways of regaining their autonomy: resigning, taking time off work, accumulating overtime to make up for personal commitments. That’s why this issue needs to be discussed with all stakeholders.”

“Office and teleworking must co-exist, it’s a proportion to be implemented that must be discussed according to the profile of the employees and the work to be done. Each model must therefore be found according to the company’s context. In fact, the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting depend on what the company can offer in terms of services,” he concludes.

As in any complex debate, the solution is made up of nuances and compromises, notions often neglected in these times.

Further information

Editor's note: This article was written in French and automatically translated into English and German.