Behind the clichés surrounding “undertakers”, certain preconceived ideas die hard. “We never bitten the toes of the dead”smiles Manon Jouron, independent embalmer. According to her, the term “undertaker” would rather come from major plague epidemics, when bodies were moved using long pike to avoid any direct contact. An anecdote which above all illustrates the gap between popular imagination and the reality of a largely unknown profession. Because behind this folkloric image hides an extremely technical profession, exercised in emergencies and in constant contact with mourning.
The sector also remains faced with a shortage of qualified professionals. With the aging population and the lack of qualified professionals, the funeral sector continues to offer relatively stable employment prospects. According to the CIDJ, France has approximately 1,000 embalmers only. At the same time, the number of graduates remains limited each year. “You should already know that in France, the number of receipts is capped by a numerus clausus set at 75 people maximum »explains Manon Jouron. Theoretical training is approximately three weeks before a particularly selective national competition, followed by several months of practice in the field, notably through internships. In the sector, many recall that “thanatopraxy is learned by hand”, through contact with real cases and the most complex situations.
Income that can quickly increase
Contrary to the image of a low-paid profession, salaries can increase quickly with experience and specialization. For a beginner employee, remuneration generally revolves around 1,700 to 2,000 euros gross per month. But certain profiles see their income increase much faster. “One of my employees with only one year of experience is already 3,000 euros gross per month »indicates Manon Jouron.
The highest incomes mainly concern the self-employed. “You can easily go up to 3,000, 4,000 or even 5,000 euros net depending on the activity »specifies the embalmer. Certain specific services, such as funeral wakes organized at the families’ homes, may also be billed more expensively, in particular due to travel and the time required to be present. The level of remuneration then depends on the number of treatments carried out, on-call obligations or even expenses linked to the company. Because when they work on their own, embalmers are not limited to conservation care. “You also have to manage the entire company behind it: administration, accounting, 24/7 calls, emergencies, quotes, invoices and even travel”she explains.
“There really isn’t a break”
These more comfortable incomes, however, come at a price. On-call nights, weekends, permanent emergencies : the pace can quickly become tiring. “There really isn’t a break. Even during vacations or at night, the phone can ring for an emergency”confides Manon Jouron.
The embalmer intervenes after death to ensure hygiene, conservation and presentation of the deceased before presentation to the family. His work consists in particular of slowing down the decomposition of the body, carrying out certain technical treatments intended to preserve the body and avoid alterations linked to death, restoring certain damaged faces and giving the deceased the most peaceful appearance possible thanks to mortuary makeup or dressing. The objective is not to transform the person, but to allow loved ones to recognize them one last time in dignified conditions.
“Some cases can be extremely complex: traumatic deaths, autopsies, advanced decomposition, facial reconstruction… We must constantly adapt”she explains. A reality very far from the cold image often associated with the profession. “Many people imagine something “cold” or “macabre”, when in reality our work consists above all of giving families the opportunity to see their loved one again in more peaceful conditions. »
Finally remains charge emotional. Faced with suicides, violent deaths or children, psychological distance becomes essential to persist over time. “The difficulty is managing to maintain a balance between the empathy necessary to do this job correctly and the distance essential to protect oneself psychologically”concludes the embalmer.
