Do you have a "Work bestie"?

We've known each other for some time now, even if we didn't speak very often. It's true, you read me like an open book, I feel you're so fragile, your heart's in the open. I want us to tell each other all our little secrets, because I'll always be... your best friend!* On stage and off, we're driven by our relationships with others, and it's only natural that in our professional circles we have colleagues we enjoy meeting up with every morning to work, or just to chat. According to a recent IFOP survey, friendship at work is seen as a strength by the vast majority of employees, and 74% of French employees admit to having a good friend at work, a work bestie or a BFF (Best Friend Forever ) for the younger ones. 82% even consider it essential! But what exactly do they talk about: private life(I got into it again this weekend with François, it's going to be tough this morning), work life(did you see how Andréa answered the boss during the meeting?...)? We reveal all about the investigation and the little secrets between colleagues!

Never without my buddy!

Let's face it: social ties are often more important than the job itself.

While some people still believe that love and friendship shouldn't be mixed at work, the majority of French people don't. Friendships have the power to change the world. Friendships have the power to alleviate the restrictive aspects of work, since, according to the study, for 82% of employees, relationships between colleagues make it possible to forget the drudgery of the job. They also see it as a way of putting up a united front against management to make their demands heard (60%).

Another survey by the Quartz Institute reveals some disparities, however: according to them, women are more likely to makefriends in the office (61%), and the number of friends depends on the sector in which the employee works. For example, in law-related professions, you don't seem to make many friends, with a recorded average of 3 friends maximum, whereas if you work in the transport industry, it's aperitif after aperitif with your dozen or so buddies.

It's worth noting that these friendships are made to last, as most of them endure outside the workplace (81%).

Bad friendships!

While intimacy and friendship between colleagues is healthy, it can also give rise to feelings of jealousy and rivalry within teams. Among employees who have a brother-in-law at work, 22% don't dare to talk about their private lives.

This may be due to the fact that privileged ties between colleagues can also be the source of certain tensions. Indeed, 46% of employees with a best friend at work admit that this has already led to resentment from their other colleagues. This dynamic seems to be fairly widespread, with 50% of men having already felt such tensions, compared to 41% of women. Managers are more likely to be confronted with this situation (57%).

So, what did Manu say?

Taking the sociological analysis a step further, the survey looked at the discussions that take place during coffee breaks. Unsurprisingly, 78% of participants discuss light topics such as the weather, broken air-conditioning or transport problems. However, touchy subjects are not ruled out. Among the most talked-about touchy subjects at work are the distribution of schedules and vacations or workload, at 76%, and on the political side, subjects linked to racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination at 54%. Gender-related issues are also commonplace for 53% of the French, as are sexism and feminism. People are speaking out!

Well, not always... Some subjects remain taboo. The French are more reserved when it comes to talking about money.According to nearly 7 out of 10 employees (68%), and three-quarters (75%) of managers, compensation is the number-one taboo subject in the workplace. Other subjects such as personal political opinions (42%), the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (46%) or religion (47%) are also less frequently discussed.

As for company gossip, 69% of employees place it at the top of their favorite conversations at work. Women are the most fond of these topics at 71%, but men are not far behind at 68%. French people like to criticize, and most of these criticisms are directed at company policy (66%), management decisions (63%) or the behavior of colleagues (60%). Let's face it, 30% of employees like to talk about romantic or sexual relationships between colleagues, and 18% about their physical attraction to a colleague. So let's get cracking, and find out who the lucky man or woman is!

*Special thanks to all Lorie fans.