by Lorenzo Rossi
Bringing the veil to the office, reorganizing the working day based on prayer or preparing spaces of worship: for the French young people, religion enters the company. According to what reported by the French Catholic newspaper The Croixthe second barometer on religious fact in businesses – made by Toluna and Harris Interactive for the Representative council of the Jewish institutions of France (CRIF) and theInstitut Supérieur du Travail (IST) – It highlights one Deep generational fracture on these themes.
The band between the 18 and 24 years it is the most open and tolerant: almost 70% of them declares themselves in favor of adaptations in the workplace to allow the exercise of faith, with an increase in 20 points compared to 2021. Even if the idea of establishing a company prayer room finds less consensus (58%), however it remains much higher than the 25% scarce of the over 50s.
The investigation also reveals one greater acceptance of explicit religious behavior: 63% of young people between 18 and 24 years of age find acceptable that a colleague ask to reorganize the time to pray, and 46% accept that someone refuses to sit where one person of the other sex had sat. More than half (58%) considers legitimate not to make their hand to people of the opposite sex, clearly increased compared to four years ago.
However, the actual presence of religion in the workplace It does not seem significantly increased: 67% of workers say that the situation has not changed compared to the past, and only 37% say they have come across religious practices in the workplace.
The most visible signs are the veil, the kippah or the cross around the neckin addition to specific food requests or permits for holidays not recognized as official holidays. Two out of three claim to have felt annoyed by these events, but in most cases they recognize that companies have managed the situation with balance.
The last chapter of the investigation is dedicated to the impact of Conflicts in the Middle Eastin particular that between Israel and Hamas. From 7 October 2023, 53% of French workers discussed the topic in the companyAnd 27% perceived tensions between colleagues. Among the youngest (18-24 years), the figure rises to 52%. Over 56% say that group dynamics and interpersonal relationships at work have been influenced by it.
A fact that confirms how The workplace is increasingly a mirror of social, religious and generational fractures of French society.
