More than one working person in two is bothered by noise and noise pollution at work
Asapreamble, more than one in two working people say they are bothered by noise and noise pollution in the workplace (56%, -6pts vs 2024). This annoyance is more marked in the noisiest environments: 65% in industry, 64% in open spaces and 66% in workshops, construction sites or production lines.
Although these categories of workers are more exposed, the problem is widespread across all sectors and work modes. In retail (53%), services (51%) and administration (61%), more than half of all workers say they are bothered by noise. Only the closed individual office significantly reduces this exposure (42%). This sensitivity to noise does not depend on age: 56% of workers under 35 say they are bothered, the proportion being identical for those aged 35 and over.
These results confirm that noise is no longer linked solely to industrial or manual environments: it is becoming a component of many contemporary workspaces. The multiplication of interactions, the openness of offices and the density of digital exchanges all contribute to a diffuse intensification of noise, including in tertiary professions or when the workplace is the home.
73% of employees feel the effects of noise, but many continue to trivialize it
This noise has relational and communicative consequences at work: workers report misunderstandings with supervisors (44%, -4pts), aggressive exchanges (41%, -1pt), tensions or conflicts within the team (41%, -2pts), or withdrawal (38%, -3pts). The trend is significantly downward, returning to its pre-Covid level in 2021. Overall, 58% of working people believe that noise and noise pollution in their workplace can be the cause of at least one of these phenomena. This proportion rises to 71% among those who say they are bothered by noise at work.
Nearly three-quarters of working people report that noise and noise pollution have a negative impact on their health (73%, stable). For one person in two, these repercussions are of an auditory nature (52%, +3pts). Unsurprisingly, 91% of those affected by hearing discomfort report repercussions, including 67% on their hearing health.
However, even among those who don’t feel bothered by noise, noise pollution has an impact : 50% identify consequences of this noise, and 33% consequences on their hearing health. There is thus a disconnect between the perception of noise, often trivialized, and its actual effects on health.
According to working people, only one employer in two takes action against noise: hearing health, the unthought-of aspect of well-being at work
Just over half of working people say their employer has offered them at least one solution to noise pollution (51%, -2 pts).
Hearing health remains little integrated into overall quality of working life initiatives. Prevention relies mainly on individual equipment, while noise sources are often related to the organization of spaces, workflows or internal communication. This discrepancy reflects a still partial approach to noise prevention.
