Work four days as an aeronautical engineer and one day as a market gardener's helper on a farm near home.
This is the concept that the Toulouse association Les Ateliers d'Icare has been testing for more than a year, which advocates polyactivity chosen to better reconcile work and ecology.
It brings together employees working mainly in offices but who question the loss of meaning of their activity in relation to ecological and social issues.
After testing polyactivity with around ten of its members in Haute-Garonne, the association is organizing an event at the departmental council on March 15 to launch the polyactivity experiment throughout France with around ten partner farms and associations.
“We see that essential sectors such as agriculture and crafts lack labor for their activities and that employees want to invest in a sector other than their work, without necessarily retraining,” explains Bruno. Jougla, co-president of Ateliers d'Icare, who himself tested the chosen polyactivity with a market gardener in parallel with his work in the Thalès company.
Ultimately, we would like to be able to work part-time in our historic company to spend one or two days in an essential sector.”
“A complete break with the office framework”
Last year, Bruno Jougla came five times to work one day a week at the Dellarossa greenhouses in Pujaudran (Gers), a few kilometers from the Toulouse metropolitan area.
He thus gave a helping hand to Loïc Dellarossa, who took over this family market gardening and flower farm in 2022. During these five days on the farm, he helped prepare the Amap vegetable baskets, collect the onions, carrots and plant leeks.
“It was very enriching, it’s a complete break from the office environment, working manually was pleasant but above all we see the reality of this profession and its difficulties thanks to the exchange with the farmers,” assures Bruno Jougla.
This volunteer workforce was warmly welcomed by the young boss, who is used to calling on wwoofers, itinerant workers paid for room and board.
“It’s a service to us and they realize that market gardening work has a price, that it doesn’t just fall into the basket,” emphasizes Loïc Dellarossa.
We have to take the time to train them, to explain to them what we do, but the idea is to exchange, to open up to another sector.”
The Ateliers d'Icare are now working on the financial aspect of the association to be able to pay these polyactivity workers, by involving companies and changing the culture of permanent employment to five days a week.
After the launch of the national experiment on March 15 in Toulouse, the association is also organizing a meeting in Paris on March 21 at the associative bar Le Bar Commun, in the 18th arrondissement.