According to a study, 4 out of 10 employees feel unable to work until they retire

Amid strikes and demonstrations against the reform that postpones the start of the statutory retirement age, this firm is stirring the dust. According to a survey by Dares (the Directorate for the Promotion of Research, Studies and Statistics is a directorate of the French central public administration, which depends on the Ministry of Labour) transmitted by theFrench media agency, 37% of employees, or one in four, do not feel able to continue working until retirement.

Stronger feeling of “unsustainability of work” among mothers of a small child

This represents approximately 9 million employees. The survey was carried out in 2019, with 40,000 people. She reveals that this feeling unsustainability of work it is particularly strong among women who have a young child (57%).

This feeling is much higher for employees under 30 (59%) than for those over 50 (18%), who have often left the most exposed positions and have a “ closer to retirement “.

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The study also shows that the professions of unskilled workers (handling, production lines), of care (nurses and nursing assistants) or in contact with the public (cashiers, bank and hotel-restaurant clerks), are considered as “less sustainable”, up to 66% for cashiers. In contrast, occupations described as “More sustainable “they practice more in offices (as computer technicians, secretaries…), describes Dares.

Leaving work to become self-employed would reduce the unsustainability of work

The survey also provides clues for improving working conditions. It reveals that organizational changes in the company are generally detrimental to job sustainability, unless employees participate in the decision. The reduction of this feeling comes through a reduction in the intensity of work, i.e. less work under pressure, no longer having to run to complete tasks or follow a certain pace.

But it also passes through an increase in employee autonomy, choosing their own path to achieve their goals, and stronger social support, receiving help from their colleagues or from their hierarchical superior.

But it is the mobility that allows the clearest improvement. “Exiting the labor market by becoming self-employed more than halves the likelihood of remaining in an unaffordable job three years later,” the study points out. The independent state is “associated with better health and a more favorable work-life balance, despite longer working hours »ends the investigation.