Working time and working at home during the lockdown: significant differences depending on occupation

During the lockdown period from mid-March to mid-May 2020 (sources), each week, 45% of people who were employed according to the definition of the International Labour Office (ILO) did not work for some or all of the week, regardless the reason (holiday, sickness, short-time working or technical unemployment, etc., Figure 1a). This is three times more than during the same period in 2019. This sharp rise is explained by the recourse to short-time working or technical unemployment: on average, during lockdown, nearly a quarter of employed people stated that they had not worked for some or all of the week for this reason, whilst this proportion was almost zero a year earlier (Figure 1b). The proportion of people who stated that they had not worked because they were on sick leave also increased, but to a far lesser extent (+2 points to 6%).

Of people who did not work for some or all of the week, the vast majority did not work at all that week. As a result, on average, each week during lockdown, 37% of employed people did not work during the week at all compared to 11% during the same period in 2019.

Employed people worked on average 21 hours per week during lockdown compared to 32 hours during the same period in 2019, a 34% fall (Figure 2a). Taking the fall in employment into account, the volume of hours worked fell by around 35%. For employed people, the reduction in the number of hours worked is primarily explained by the large proportion of people not having worked for some or all of the week. This is because the number of hours worked by people having worked for the entire week fell only slightly: these people worked 35 hours on average during lockdown compared to 37 hours during the same period in 2019, a 4% reduction.

The reduction in the volume of hours worked has been more pronounced in sectors where activity has been severely affected by lockdown. Thus, on average, during lockdown, the number of hours actually worked per week fell by 80% in the accommodation and food service activities, by 64% in the arts, entertainment and recreational activities and by 52% in construction and other services (hairdressing, beauty care, other personal service activities, etc.) compared to the same period a year earlier (Figure 2d). In agriculture, on the other hand, the number of hours worked remained at a level fairly comparable to 2019 (–5%).

Moreover, the fall is more marked for clerical, sales and services employees (–41%), industrial and blue-collar workers (–48%) or craftspeople, shopkeepers and company managers (–48%), while being more limited for managers and higher intellectual professionals (–17%, Figure 2e).

On average, the number of hours worked fell by the same amount for women and men (Figure 2b). Conversely, it fell more for young people, particularly because they are more often clerical, sales and services employees or industrial and blue-collar workers, or in sectors that were shut down (Figure 2c). In the absence of usual child care arrangements during lockdown, the activity of parents with young children declined further. As a result, for couples with children, and more so for single adults with children, the number of hours worked fell more when the youngest child was under three. For couples, the reduction was 38% if they had at least one child under 3 compared to 33% otherwise; for single adults with children, the reduction was 60% if they had at least one child under 3 compared to 36% otherwise.

During lockdown, of people who worked at least one hour during the week, nearly one in two (47%) worked at home during the last four weeks, twice as many as in 2019 (Figure 3a). In addition, the intensity of working from home increased: during lockdown, 80% of people having worked at home did so for at least half their working hours; in 2019, 30% of people were in this case.

However, the rise in working from home was not spread equally across all occupations and economic activities. For example, during lockdown, for employed people, working from home was very widespread among managers and higher intellectual professionals (81%) and, to a lesser extent, among craftspeople, shopkeepers and company managers (60%), or those in education (81%) and business services (71%, Figure 3c). Conversely, a very small proportion of industrial and blue-collar workers (4%) or unskilled workers (18%) who worked during lockdown did so from home (Figure 3d).

Overall, working from home increased among managers and higher intellectual professionals and the highly educated for whom it was already more developed before lockdown. However, skilled workers are the exception: 38% of them worked from home during lockdown compared to just 5% during the same period in 2019. Finally, all other things being equal, working from home was more common in the Paris region during lockdown, contrary to what was observed in 2019.

Having worked or not during the week, the reasons for not working (partial unemployment, illness...), the number of hours worked or the frequency of working from home during lockdown and during the same period in 2019 reveal five distinct groups of occupations (Figure 4).

A quarter of employed people are in occupations where the reduction in the number of hours worked was limited. On the one hand, for some occupations that were on the front line as a result of the health crisis (nurses, caregivers, doctors, etc.) or that ensured the continuity of certain activities (farm workers, non-specialised stores sellers, police officers, etc.), workers remained "still working on site". They represent about 9% of total employment. On average, the number of hours worked in these occupations only fell by 6% compared to the previous year. Moreover, among those who worked for the entire week, the proportion of those who worked 40 hours or more was higher than in 2019 (35% compared to 28%). Working from home, which was not particularly widespread for these occupations, did not increase much during lockdown. These are jobs most often filled by women (60% compared to 48% of jobs on average). Managers and higher intellectual professionals are under-represented here (9% compared to 21% overall).

On the other hand, for some occupations (engineers, teachers, senior managers or civil service managers, for example) the drop in the number of hours worked was limited thanks to "widespread working from home". For these occupations, the number of hours worked fell by only 12% and 86% of people who actually worked during lockdown worked from home. Working from home was already common practice within these occupations before lockdown, be it in the form of teleworking or in addition to time spent at their workplace: 54% of people in these jobs worked from home a year earlier, that is to say more than twice the share of all employed people in that period. This group represents 17% of total employment. Most are managers and higher intellectual professionals (78% compared to 21% of total employment). State civil service employees (29% compared to 9% of jobs on average) and people living in the Paris region (33% compared to 19% on average) are over-represented.

The "rise in working from home" enabled certain occupations – making up a quarter of total employment – to limit slightly the effect of lockdown on the reduction in the volume of work. The number of hours worked fell substantially within these occupations, though a little less than average (–30%). They often include occupations classified as being at an intermediate level (category B civil service employees, accountants, etc.). Within these occupations, the proportion of people working from home, among people having worked for at least one hour, was 66% during lockdown, twice as much as in 2019 during the same period.

For 44% of employed people, the number of hours worked collapsed during lockdown, falling more than average. This primarily includes occupations offering "limited options for teleworking": personal services workers, drivers, cleaners for example. These occupations make up 26% of jobs. On average, the number of hours worked fell by 42% compared to the previous year. Nearly a third of people stated that they were technically unemployed or in short-time working. For people who were able to work, working from home was still rare (15% during lockdown compared to 9% a year before). These jobs are more often carried out by less-skilled workers or workers living in less urbanised areas.

Finally, some occupations more or less saw their "activity brought to a halt". These trades (specialised stores sellers, waiters, physiotherapists, driving instructors, etc.) were not able to work normally as a result of the sudden suspension in their business since the start of lockdown. These occupations make up 19% of total employment. The volume of hours worked fell here by 66% compared to the previous year, and short-time working was very widespread within these occupations (on average 45% of people each week during lockdown). Compared to jobs overall, these occupations are more often carried out by men, young people or immigrants.