“I loved my job, and I was starting to wonder how I was going to approach retirement. “ Three years ago, the fate of Xavier Le Roux, then aged 56, accelerated: “The profession of traveling hospital representative in oncology, which I occupied in the West for the Pfizer laboratory, was on the decline. “
As a voluntary departure plan looms, he learns from a unionized colleague that he can benefit from it, with a skills sponsorship : “A full-time position, in the association of his choice, while being paid by the company until his retirement”, he sums up.
“The associative environment has become more professional”
The perfect opportunity for him to take on a new challenge, without financial risk. And for the company, the opportunity to hire young people and to benefit from a tax exemption on the salaries of seconded staff. Xavier Le Roux applied to the Red Cross and immediately landed a post of communication, financial resources and projects manager, in the delegation ofIlle-et-Vilaine.
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Xavier Le Roux works at the Red Cross of Ille-et-Vilaine (while being paid by his company) until his retirement, in a year. © WEST-FRANCE
Profiles like his are, in fact, sought after: “For twenty years, the associative environment has become much more professional, he explains. Even more, since the crisis, the large charitable associations compensate for the shortcomings of the State. They need managers, webmasters… ”
Or, “Retired volunteers, who arrive after a well-deserved break, have sometimes won digital processes and tools. We arrive with know-how and an address book. Corporate sponsorship is therefore a real reserve of skills. “
“I have friends who are in the closet”
Himself was surprised and “Reboosted by this change of activity: I loved my job but this opportunity was the occasion of a new challenge, to leap into the unknown. For two years, I have met people, I have projects, it is very enriching and I feel useful. “
He regrets that this device is not better known to companies and employees, for whom “It is also an end-of-career solution, a virtuous voluntary departure in which we remain active. I have friends who are in the closet. Certainly, with their salary, but that is not everything. ” And if he chose charity, “There are all kinds of associations to get involved in, for example in the environment. “ For them, it is also a blessing, while all have been going through for eighteen months “A severe crisis in volunteering”.
Read also: In Ille-et-Vilaine, 110 associations are in dire need of volunteers
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Since the pandemic, associations have been going through a crisis of volunteers, who are sorely lacking. © WEST FRANCE archives
But for a smooth end of career, on the other hand, we will come back. «Qu a few months after my arrival, the pandemic surprised us and the work redoubled . It’s just starting to normalize. ” A very relative term for the one who has just been appointed regional director 35 of social action… We cannot change ourselves.
However, he still exchanges regularly with his colleagues at Pfizer: “I’m thirty years in the box, he justifies with a smile, and my payslip always bears the company logo. For me, I just left in another box, a new project. “ Who will not really end, in a year, at the end of his contract: “I will remain at the Red Cross as a volunteer”, he already assures. She may be there, the smooth transition to retirement …
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