Organising the disconnection? Intense work and articulation of times and spaces in the design activities of an automotive company [Organiser la déconnexion ? Travail intense et articulation des temps et des espaces dans les activités de conception d’un groupe automobile]

Companies' top management and trade union organisations are thinking about what actions should be developed to limit hyper-connection. Awareness-raising and best practice charters or, more radically, cutting off servers at the end of the day are frequent responses without always being convincing. The article is based on an exploratory study focused on the research and development activities of an automotive group. Engineers, and sometimes technicians, deal with projects on a global scale and are connected to contacts spread over on several time zones. The article shows that the issue of disconnection cannot be addressed without bearing in mind the high standards of work intensity that are prevalent in these activities and internalised by employees. It also underlines their needs, in such circumstances, to be free to choose how to use their ICT equipment. In this way, they are able to ease the constraints on their professional life and maintain a balance with their personal life. Hence, solutions must be sought in terms of work organisation or equipment ergonomics.