Clock out or keep on trucking? Film follows 4 Manitobans' winding retirement journeys

Work

Airs Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 at 7 p.m. on CBC Manitoba.

Stream free on CBC Gem now.

Work can shape our daily routines and identity — but what happens when careers wind down?

"I've been so used to building all my life, and so all of a sudden I'm not supposed to build anymore, I'm supposed to just stay stagnant," says farmer Butch Harder. 

Butch, 76, contemplates handing his operation over to his son Dean Harder in Steve Suderman's documentary Work, which follows four Manitobans transitioning to retirement and their mixed feelings around that change. The new documentary is co-production with CBC's Absolutely Canadian documentary series and Winnipeg producer Suderman. 

"What drew me to the project in the first place was just my own sort of ongoing obsession with trying to do work that I find meaningful … but knowing that's not an option for everybody," Suderman said. 

In the film, Darlene Searcy, 59, cleans excess rolls of tape from her drawer on one of her last days as a high school teacher. School was a haven for her, and that guided her career choice.

"Would I be a teacher again? No," she says. "So I think when you get to that point, you know that you probably need to leave the profession."

The turning point for leaving comes in various shapes. Junk seller Vivian Proden decides to close down her store, Junk for Joy, at age 85 because her right hip needs surgery.

And Otto Chu, a 63-year-old nurse, jokes at his retirement party that he has to follow his wife's advice. 

"I have no choice. If I keep on working, she's going travelling about the world without me."

With all the time spent at work, it "shapes us in some ways," Suderman said, but "people in turn can shape their own work and bring their passion and values to it."

That reciprocal give-and-take comes through in the stories each person tells of their career — memories, joys and challenges.

"Do I love my store? I more than love it," Proden says. She has dedicated herself to the objects, and "the people that come with them."

As Butch and Dean Harder navigate a possible farm handover in the documentary, Chu, Proden and Searcy try out retirement with different results.

 "We derive a lot of purpose from our work, not everybody," said Suderman, "but I think all of the subjects in this film struggle with that."

Watch Work on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. on CBC Manitoba.

Stream free on CBC Gem now.