Household appliances, bicycles, smartphones … Repairer of objects, a profession with a future



Many household appliances are thrown away instead of being repaired (illustration). – Alexandre GELEBART / REA

  • The French are less and less reluctant to have devices repaired rather than changing them.
  • A company has opened a school in Lille to train its own repairers of household appliances.
  • Another recruited about fifteen people in the North to become independent bicycle repairers.

Deprogrammed obsolescence. In another era, if a device broke, it was enough to ask around to find a handyman able to put the right screwdriver where it was necessary to get things back to normal. It must be said that at this same time, household appliances, for example, were manufactured to last and that the high prices justified attempting to repair them. Today, for a kettle at ten euros, we do not ask the question. Or, at least, we did not ask the question. In the meantime, we have opened our eyes to the state of the planet and sustainable development, the circular economy and recycling have taken root in people’s minds. A change in mores that may not be to the liking of industrialists but which has the double merit of creating jobs and being good for the planet.

Two years ago, the Murfy company launched a home appliance repair and repair service in the North based on a simple observation: “With more than 4.2 million household appliances in service for 610,000 households in the department, the risk of breakdown is inevitable, ”explains one at Murfy. Another incredible figure, nearly 1.4 million devices are thrown away each year in Nord-Pas-de-Calais according to a study published by Ademe in 2014. “In 85% of cases, we are able to repair these breakdowns ”, we are assured.

A school to train its own repairers

Since its launch, Murfy has found its market, not only for the repair side, but also for the reconditioning of devices doomed to breakage. And because demand is growing, the company is opening its own school in Lille to train household appliance repairers. “This is a six-month training course divided into two: three months of theory and three months of practice, first in the workshop and then in the field in the company of a tutor technician”, explains. we at Murfy. Moreover, the first 15 candidates are in the process of being recruited.

Also because customs are changing and soft modes of travel are booming, we have to find hands to maintain and repair bikes and other scooters. This is the domain of Cyclofix, launched in 2016 and present in 14 French cities with more than 150 repairers in its network. But today, that is no longer enough to meet demand. “In Lille, between now and September, we want to recruit between 10 and 15 independent repairers to join our network”, estimates Hugo De Luca of Cyclofix.

The most widespread field and which recruits a lot remains that of mobile telephony. However, there are more unusual job offers for repairers. Thus, in Lille, the Army is looking for a parachute repairer. In Roye, in the Somme, a logistics company posted an ad to find a pallet repairer. Rarer, it is a piano repairer-tuner that a Frelinghien company hopes to hire. In short, there are repairers for almost everything except the broken hearted.



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