AXA extends smart working strategy globally

French multinational insurance company AXA has announced that it is deploying its smart working strategy to all of its entities the world over.

Headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, AXA engages in global insurance, investment management and other financial services. The company operates primarily in North America, Western Europe, the Middle East and the India Pacific region, with a presence also in Africa.

Aiming to implement a hybrid way of working, AXA’s strategy combines office presence and remote work by letting employees work remotely on a voluntary basis for two days of the week as a general guide.

AXA’s major entities, which employ more than 70% of the company’s total employees, will adopt this approach by the end of this year. This approach will be adopted by all of AXA’s markets by 2023.

The strategy includes provision of IT equipment, adaptation of workspaces and change management and training measures. The company says it will pay particular attention to the autonomy and responsibility of teams and to the unity and well-being of staff. Depending on the specificity of their jobs, eligible employees who wish or have to work full time in office do not have to adopt this approach.

AXA says that its decision to implement the smart working strategy comes following its successful implementation of remote working, as 38% of its employees were already regularly working remotely before the pandemic and 90% wished to work remotely more in the future. The company says its decision is also based on the experience it gained during the coronavirus crisis, which, thanks to a fully remote work approach that was adopted, could not stop AXA from continuing its operations.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has been a tipping point in our working methods,” said AXA chief human resources officer Karima Silvent in a press release. “Continued investments in our digital transformation made it possible to massively recourse to remote working during the crisis, which confirmed the resilience of our organization in an unprecedented context.

She added, “Moreover, this crisis has reminded us of the importance of having places in which we can meet and work together.”

Silvent further added, “By extending our smart working strategy, we want to adapt our organization to the post-Covid era and offer our employees a balanced framework that combines the flexibility of remote work, while keeping the office as an important anchor for social interactions and community building.

“This is a new step in our overall ambition to become one of the best companies to work for.”

AXA is a conglomerate of independently run businesses, operated according to the laws and regulations of many different countries.

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