Documentary “The Great Resignation”: “I was in regular gear. I resigned.”

“I was stuck in a rut. I resigned,” said Alexandre Nadeau, who quit his job as a plumber to work with the Millionaires Group, a 9-to-5 job that runs like clockwork.

“We like to “work”. We work all the time, but “coolly”. We have eight companies in real estate, events, etc., “explains Alexandre Nadeau, who would not return to his old life for anything in the world.

“I gave up welding for forestry after 15 years,” says Nelson Grant of the Eaubois Forest Workers Cooperative at the MRC in Haute-Caspésie.

These workers who quit their jobs as part of Isabelle Marechal's powerful new documentary A big resignationIt was not possible to visit the four corners of Quebec to meet with those who had resigned.

As an academic strike paralyzes Quebec, this documentary lifts the curtain on the grief of an aspiring teacher who left the world of academia because she was crushed by the weight of the system.

“Suffocated by their work”

During the pandemic, one in four Quebecers were considering changing jobs. To understand this silent desert, Isabelle Marechal extends the microphone and continues the reflection she began in her previous documentary. Means of the middle class.

“Around me, I saw a lot of people suffocating with their work,” slips the intellectual in an interview. magazine.

“To what extent should your work take precedence over every aspect of your life?” asks the star host and businessman.

Isabelle Maréchal wanted to understand what made Quebecers turn their backs on their former careers.

Mario Beauregard/Agence QMI

Factory worker, teacher, nurse… Isabelle Marechal took the time to understand what motivated them to take action. She gives voice to others who have chosen the co-op model to breathe new life into a work world consumed by speed culture.

“It's a lot to say 'I quit,' because work is the center of our lives,” summarizes Isabelle Marechal, who has been in the business since she was 16.

Isabelle Maréchal with members of the Eaubois Forest Workers Cooperative

Presented by Télé-Québec

A dull discomfort

In his documentary, we feel the dull uneasiness that taints the health of some. They give less meaning to their work, stretching the rubber band until it bursts.

Because while many others are passionate about their work, others feel enslaved to their livelihood and it is slowly killing them.

Billionaires who manage multiple businesses have their own way of managing their own work.

Presented by Télé-Québec

A big resignation A worker says he was told to go to the bathroom to drink water to avoid slowing down the factory.

“There is hope if managers start to open up in turn. Flexibility cannot be on one side,” observes Maréchal.

“People have more power than they think,” he concludes.

A big resignation Airs on Télé-Québec on January 24 at 8 p.m.