In full mobilization against the pension reform and the day after the examination of Article 7 in the Senate, recording the postponement of the retirement age to 64, the feeling of “unsustainability” at work is found at the heart of a study by Dares. Nearly nine million people, or 37% of employees, do not feel able to hold on to their job until retirement. A feeling that diminishes when workers are given autonomy, according to this survey by the statistics department of the Ministry of Labor published on Thursday.
According to this study by the statistics department of the Ministry of Labor carried out in 2019 among 40,000 people, this feeling of “unsustainability of work” is significantly stronger among those under 30 (59%) than among those over 50 ( 18%) who have often left the most exposed positions and have a “closer horizon to retirement”. It is also very strong among women with young children (57%).
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58% of employees affected by a feeling of unsustainability
Occupations of unskilled workers (handling, production lines), in contact with the public (cashiers, bank and hotel and restaurant employees) or in care (nurses and nursing auxiliaries), are considered to be “less sustainable”, up to 66% for cashiers. On the other hand, the “most sustainable” professions are exercised more in offices (computer technicians, secretaries, etc.).
This feeling of unsustainability concerns 58% of employees exposed to psychosocial constraints (intense work, emotional demands, socio-economic insecurity, conflict of values, degraded social relations, etc.), 46% of those exposed to physical constraints (noise, heat , humidity, standing work, carrying heavy loads, etc.) and 61% of those exposed to both.
These employees have more choppy careers than others and retire earlier, with interruptions, in particular for health reasons, which increase at the end of their careers. But a third of employees in very good health still consider their work unsustainable. Organizational changes in the company are generally detrimental to the sustainability of the work, unless the employees participate in the decision.
Employees want more autonomy
Reducing this feeling goes through a reduction in the intensity of work (having to hurry, work under pressure, following a rhythm, etc.), an increase in autonomy (choosing the way to achieve objectives or to work correctly) and stronger social support (receiving help from colleagues, supervisor, etc.).
But it’s the mobility that makes the biggest improvement. “Leaving employment by becoming self-employed more than halves the probability of remaining in an unsustainable job three years apart,” the study points out. The status of self-employed is “associated with better health and a more favorable balance between family life and professional life, despite longer working hours”, according to the study.