Raphael Schindler, Counsel and avocat à la Cour specialized in Employment. Credit : Luther S.A.

Raphael Schindler, Counsel and avocat à la Cour specialized in Employment. Credit : Luther S.A.

A recent survey shows that the trend has been towards a gradual reduction in teleworking since the pandemic, as illustrated by Amazon’s recent decision to return to face-to-face work by early 2025. And yet, employees in Luxembourg continue to vote in favour of teleworking. Trouble ahead?

Since 2014, the Infas institute has conducted an annual survey called “Quality of Work”, on various topics related to the satisfaction of Luxembourg employees (whether residents or cross-border workers), on behalf of the Luxembourg Chambre des Salariés and the University of Luxembourg. The survey carried out in 2023, the results of which were published in June 2024, reveals a gap between the expectations of Luxembourg employees and the evolution of teleworking practices adopted during the pandemic.

The survey reveals that in 2023, only 29% of Luxembourg employees were still regularly teleworking (a level similar to 2017), compared with 40% in 2021, at the height of the health crisis.

This trend towards less teleworking is illustrated by the growing number of examples of large companies around the world deciding to restrict or even abolish the possibility for their employees to telework.

In the Grand Duchy, one particular example is causing a stir: Amazon, the country’s fifth-largest employer, announced (via a communication broadcast to its employees on September 16, 2024) that it had decided to end the possibility of teleworking for employees in its administrative departments from January 2, 2025. In Luxembourg, more than 4,200 employees are affected.

This downward trend is countered by the fact that teleworking is still popular with Luxembourg employees, according to figures from the “Quality of Work” survey.

According to the survey, 57% of employees surveyed would like to telework at least one day a week, and 32% would even like to spend most or all of their time teleworking. Teleworking is generally perceived as advantageous by employees because it means less travel, goes hand in hand with greater autonomy in the organization of work, and avoids certain work arrangements that are often perceived as disadvantageous, such as working in an “open space”.

Most employees surveyed do not seem to consider that teleworking would impair the quality of their work: 85% of teleworkers say they can work uninterrupted from home, compared with 65% in 2021.

This is probably not unrelated to the improvement in material conditions for teleworking. In 2023, 70% of teleworking employees say they are well equipped to work from home, compared with 61% in 2021. However, despite this improvement, only 24% of employers appear to cover teleworking-related communication costs, despite the general obligation to do so enshrined in the Collective Agreement on Teleworking of October 20, 2020, which is generally binding.

In any case, figures from the “Quality of Work” survey highlight a growing tension between the general trend towards less teleworking and the satisfaction that teleworking brings to a majority of Luxembourg employees. This gives rise to fears that the subject of teleworking may become a point of contention within companies.

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