Industry 4.0

3Technical Progress and Quality of Life at Work

3.1. General framework

On a positive note, France is the leading European destination in terms of the number of foreign investments in production sites, a situation that should be viewed in terms of national industry’s general situation (EY 2018). Thus, France retains the first place in terms of hosting European industrial projects (16% of projects). There are therefore catchment areas that should not be neglected.

During a time of major economic and societal crises, when companies are being called upon to produce more and “better” with fewer resources – especially human resources, in households where hyperconnectivity takes precedence over in-depth conversation and friendly exchange, some organizations are questioning a strengthening, or even a return, to inventiveness, creativity, generosity and spontaneity in cordial relations between humans. “The Internet brings collaboration back into the spotlight at the very moment when the ideology of all-round competition is revealed for what it has always been: a truncated and narrow-minded vision of society” (de Grave 2015). It stems from this positioning associated with a “2.0 mentality”, a recent research topic where society is supposed to reflect “natural” trends and not a set of barriers and rules imposed on citizens.

From this perspective, this new social life of “shared dependence” would reject the logic of productivism, without seeking a return to historical village social forms. ...