At the age of 51 and after 20 months on unemployment, Thierry starts a new job that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma. How much is he willing to accept to keep his job?

A trained machinist in his early 50s has not had a job for a year and a half. Although he is coerced by the employment office into further training and trained in countless courses for all kinds of things, he cannot find a job. Only when he settles for a simpler job is he hired as a department store detective.