"While the French say they are still attached to the 'prestige of the address', the Germans place more value on the practical aspect".

Clarisse Toutée is a partner at Egon Zehnder, advising companies on executive recruitment and development.

What signals do you see in the expectations managers have of their offices?

With the adoption of teleworking for two or even three days a week in many post-Covid crisis companies, decisions by some managers to reduce square metres and rearrange workspaces were not long in coming. They have been a powerful lever for optimising costs in an "uncertain" economic environment. In some cases, they have been able to meet the new expectations of managers and employees in terms of office use (reductions in the number of individual offices in favour of larger, user-friendly shared spaces, relocation of offices to the centre of major cities made possible by the reduction in square metres, etc.). In other cases, they may have begun to threaten affectio societatis by limiting the amount of time employees can interact with each other and sometimes sacrificing their well-being. In this context, the quality and organisation of the offices offered to employees, whether or not they are seniors, is now often one of the factors in the decision of the managers we work with to join a company.

How can certain office management decisions be risky?

Take the example of some French companies, large and small, where the key factors in attracting and retaining staff are values, culture and a sense of belonging (sometimes more so than salary levels). Offices and their use can contribute to the development and preservation of these values and this attachment to the company. By spending time together in the office, sharing information in the corridors, watching top management being inspirational on a daily basis, team loyalty is built and strengthened. If coming to the office is very limited because of an extremely developed teleworking policy or the reorganisation of workspaces (flex-office type) with far fewer workstations available than employees, for example, there is a risk that employees' attachment to the company will gradually disintegrate, which could lead to departures.

What is Paris' image at European level?

Today, Paris is considered a very attractive city in Europe. It has emerged stronger from the Brexit, with a large number of companies - notably banks - choosing to repatriate some of their London teams here (whereas at the start of the Brexit, Frankfurt was seen as the city that would 'benefit alone' from the relocation of activities and teams from London). The beauty of the city, of course, but also the quality of life, the quality of infrastructure and office space, the efficiency of public transport, the number of nearby airports, the high level of economic activity and other assets that would take too long to mention, have all played a major role in convincing employers to choose Paris to continue to attract and retain talent. The French government has contributed to this success by communicating extensively in France and abroad about the advantages of our world city and the ease of obtaining the impatriation scheme, as well as pushing for the development of international schools to accommodate the children of professionals from London.

What assets is Germany banking on to make their offices more attractive?

While the French are still attached to the "prestige of the address" and the comfort of their offices, the Germans place more value on their practicality and accessibility. Given the decentralisation of activities in Germany, having an office close to an airport or railway station and having a parking space are very important points for them, as they travel a lot more than the French.

With the economic development of provincial towns and the growing number of employees choosing to live far from major French cities while "working part-time" there thanks to teleworking, the value of station areas should also increase in major cities, including Paris: I believe that this is already starting to be the case.