Employees remain very attached to remote work
While some companies are trying to reduce remote work, a study by the Teleworking Observatory shows that this doesn’t represent a reversal of the trend. The study indicates that one in two employees says they are ready to resign if remote work is eliminated.
Teleworking: to continue or not?” Lately, there has been a growing number of cases of companies questioning this work arrangement, which has taken on a new dimension since But behind these often highly publicized announcements, the survey conducted by the Teleworking Observatory (created by the CGT’s Union of Engineers, Managers and Technicians) shows that there is no real counter-revolution.
In fact, 77% of private and public sector employees say that the use of remote work has not been eliminated, according to the study carried out between and 2026 with 5,000 respondents, including 62% managers and 26% intermediate professions.
Decline in the number of days worked remotely
Only 7% of respondents noted that remote work had been eliminated “in some departments.” 31% of respondents reported that their employer was encouraging a return to the office “informally.” A significant proportion (12%) were unsure of the situation.
It’s not so much the elimination of remote work that’s happening, but rather a decrease in the number of days worked remotely per week,” the survey emphasizes. However, this trend is not—or not yet—sufficient to change the overall prevalence of this particular form of work organization. The survey shows that when it exists, it is applied on average two days per week, as was the case in 2026.
Employees who work remotely aren’t complaining. Clearly very keen on being able to work from home, 73% of respondents say they are “very happy” with their remote work situation and 22% say they are “fairly happy,” compared to 1% who are “very unhappy” and 4% who are “fairly unhappy.” One in two employees even says they are ready to resign if remote work is eliminated.
Debate on the productivity of teleworkers
This is particularly true for young people, who are overrepresented among these “teleworking addicts”: 22% are under 30, compared to 10% of all respondents. Seniors represent only 11%. “Once you’ve achieved a certain level of job stability, it can become more complicated, and you also have to consider the difficulty of finding another job,” emphasized Emmanuelle Lavignac of the Ugict-CGT, who heads the observatory.
The strong attachment to remote work observed overall is not due to the possibility of doing less. While there is debate about the productivity of remote workers, only 4.5% of survey respondents reported working less than when working on-site. For 18%, the opposite was true. For 77%, working hours remained unchanged.
Commitment is also reflected in the relatively low success rate of the proposal tested in the survey: a return to full-time work in exchange for reduced working hours with no loss of salary. Less than half of the respondents were willing to accept.
A “stopgap” for sick leave
The observatory’s work also explores a rarely discussed but productive topic: teleworking as a “palliative” to sick leave. In fact, 76% of respondents reported having already teleworked while ill. The reasons given were numerous: no doctor’s appointments, “mild symptoms of a chronic illness,” but also an excessive workload or a way to avoid a loss of income. Childcare was also mentioned.
The survey also highlights a recurring issue: that of managers, “the forgotten ones of remote work,” notes Emmanuelle Lavignac. “They’re told, ‘You have to manage satellites, do your best,'” summarizes Caroline Diard, associate professor at TBS Education in the Human Resources Management and Business Law department, who worked on the survey. It shows that they are more frequently stressed and sleep-deprived than other employees. 71% report never having received training in remote management, and 9% have, but insufficiently.
