Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Attracting programmers to a meeting city isn’t easy. Games and other big names in video games. Photo processing software company Médiaclip cannot compete with these multinationals in terms of salaries. So she’s trying to stand out with a unique property: a large chalet on the edge of a lake, for telecommuting or weekends with the family.
Posted at 7:00 am
“We are fighting against big players. In terms of salary, we are not even close,” says Marion Duchesne, founder and CEO of Médiaclip. The Montreal company, housed in a converted industrial building in the Mile-X district, counts Miméo, Fujifilm and Costco applications among its main customers.
To attract talent, companies try to compete on another ground than compensation: social benefits.
Photo by EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, The Press
Marion Duchesne, inside the Mediaclip Chalet
There are foosball tables for everyone. Some set up climbing walls, but they make all their employees work overtime!
Marion Duchesne, Mediaclip CEO
For her part, Marion Duchesne wants to show her box that balancing work and family (or just life and family) is serious business.
Air for programmers
During the pandemic, she noticed that many of her employees spent their workdays alone in their apartments. Or worse: stuck in tiny dorms with two or three roommates.
“Some of the workers who already had access to the chalet took advantage of it. Others went to work in the south of British Columbia… Everyone was a bit scattered. I felt sad. »
Marion Duchesne had the idea to give them a little corner of nature to work with.
But the search for the ideal property proved difficult.
“We’re in the time of COVID, so everyone’s gathered in chalets, she said. I visited one in Lac des Piles and it was really overpriced. »
A real estate agent showed him a property he didn’t like in the Saint-Gérard-des-Laurentides sector of Shawinigan. The sellers neglected to raise the property (Home staging)
He showed us the pictures and it was really ugly. The walls are light brown, there are beaver heads everywhere …
Marion Duchesne, on the first images of what will become a chalet mediaclip
But on the spot, Mediaclip’s owner knew she had found the little corner of heaven her employees needed.
“When I left, I ruined my life! Laughs Marion Duchesne. We are on the edge of an ecological lake, Lac à la Perchaud…”
Purchased in October for $675,000, the sprawling abode isn’t particularly affordable. But it has almost everything a MediaClip needs: size, location, inside and outside layout possibilities…
The company redid the basement, creating spaces for telecommuting and an additional family room. “The same chalet in Laurentians, north of Montreal, is worth more than 1 million! “says Marion Duchesne.
A cabin for work, play and the outdoors
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Photo by EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, The Press
Chalet of Saint-Gerard-des-Laurentides
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Photo by EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, The Press
Employees installed in the room to work from left to right: William Lapointe, Gabriel Marocco and Maxime Therrien-Arel
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Photo by EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, The Press
Marion Duchesne, founder and CEO of Mediaclip, with Maxime Therrien-Arel and other programmers in the basement of the company’s chalet equipped for teleworking.
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Photo by EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, The Press
Médiaclip’s boss, Marion Duchesne, on the quay for a team meeting at the water’s edge.
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Photo by EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, The Press
A little luxury doesn’t hurt the chalet: table tennis and video games in the basement
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Photo by EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, The Press
situation But there is no sign When looking for a rare pearl: Let yourself be allowed to enjoy the water in the chalet. Médiaclip employees can easily paddle the Lac à la Perchaude.
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Since then employees have been going there whenever they want to work. There are five bedrooms to accommodate them.
In turn, they can book the chalet even on weekends. “I went by seniority: choose your dates”, explains the boss.
For a national holiday, special food: everyone can go. “They had a little party. »
A substantial asset
The reputation of the new “Mediaclip Chalet” also prevails during job interviews.
“Candidates ask me: ‘Where’s the chalet?’ It really piques people’s interest.”
Chalet stands out clearly in satisfaction surveys conducted by Médiaclip among its employees. “Except it has a ripple effect. People say, ‘That’s great, but if we worked four days a week, we’d enjoy it more!'” laughs Marion Duchesne.
Not crazy. For the first time, his company is testing a four-and-a-half-day schedule this summer. “And to arrange the same number of hours in four days, that is also possible. »
Notice to Interested Parties. Currently, Médiaclip, which has a total of 35 employees, is looking for 9 new developers, says Marion Duchesne. “Lack of employees is the main obstacle to my growth. »
