For many people, the end of the school holidays means a return to daily travel between school and work, which determines the organisation of everyday activities. However, some of these journeys no longer take place on a regular basis, due to the increase in teleworking, i.e. working on a regular basis away from company premises via the internet, within the framework of an employment contract.

How many workers are affected by this phenomenon, and how often? What do we know about the impact of teleworking on the Brussels economy? Have the trends observed at the end of the lockdown period taken hold, and what are the forecasts for the future? The 194th issue of Brussels Studies analyses the potential impact of teleworking in Brussels on well-being, the economy, employment, property, mobility and public finances, based on an extensive compilation of recent literature and data. It is the result of a collaboration between researchers in geography (Mathieu Strale and Jean-Michel Decroly), economics (Claire Duchêne and Magali Verdonck) and psychology (Marine Willeput, Nathan Pudles, Sabine Pohl and Catherine Hellemans) at Université libre de Bruxelles.

The spread of teleworking has taken place against a backdrop of broader societal developments, including more flexible organisation of employment, more diverse residential situations, high levels of socio-spatial inequality in and around Brussels, and federalisation and state reforms affecting BCR funding. As a result, its spread has led to new tensions and rearrangements in terms of reconciling private and professional life, redeveloping office space on a city-wide scale and managing the induced effects on the property sector and related activities and jobs, meeting workers' expectations in terms of housing and employment conditions, and adapting transport options to new commuting patterns. It is therefore not easy to measure its impact.

The authors nevertheless point out that even in an international city with a highly service-oriented economy, teleworking directly concerns only half of all workers, the other half only experiencing possible indirect impacts. The difficulty in considering and responding to the implications of teleworking also stems from the fact that this new way of working creates new divides while reinforcing others: between cities and suburbs, women and men, people with low and high qualifications, small and large companies, etc.

In this context, the role of public authorities is fundamental, whether in terms of regulating working conditions, property and regional planning, economic activity, mobility or public finances. This is all the more so, as experts currently agree on two hypotheses, namely a stabilisation or continued increase in teleworking in Brussels, and do not envisage a widespread return to in-person working.

References
Duchêne, C., Strale, M., Willeput, M., Pudles, N., Decroly, J.-M., Hellemans, C., Pohl, S. en Verdonck, M., “The widespread implementation of teleworking in the Brussels-Capital Region”, Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 194, 25 August 2024. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/7813
Contact
Tatiana Debroux, Editor in chief:
tdebroux[at]brusselsstudies.be