Digitalization of Work

2Nomadic, Informal and Mediated Work and Quality of Life

2.1. Introduction

The deployment of information and communication technologies is linked in particular to the evolution of employees’ physical mobility outside the boundaries of the company (Taskin 2010). Recent surveys have shown that more than 70% of executives in France now work outside their offices, in a wide variety of spaces (home, public transport, etc.), as well as beyond normal working hours (evenings, weekends, holidays; Tissot OpinionWay 2011). Concurrently, with the evolution of workspaces (open space, flex offices), there is a growth in remote, “off-site” or mobile work, whether formalized with the employer or not (Morel-Al-Lhuissier 2007; Vayre 2017).

Although recent policies on remote working in France (Macron Ordinance of September 2017) aim to limit “gray” or informal remote work by relaxing the legal rules around remote working, it is still widespread (Kouloumdjian 2012; Épitalon 2017).

The distance from the workplace and the establishment of work activity within the private sphere of individuals through technology raise questions about the potential effects of informal work practices on the quality of life at work. Several studies have shown that distancing oneself from one’s company tends to have an impact on the employees’ degree of commitment, as well as on relations between employees. They have also highlighted a weakening of the work–“non-work” equilibrium of employees with this type of practice, ...