"We are Santa's little elves", in this Amazon warehouse, activity is in full swing

Mélina Facchin, edited by Romain Rouillard 06:28, December 22, 2022

To avoid the drudgery of shopping centers full to bursting with the approach of the holidays, many French people have chosen e-commerce this year to stock up on Christmas gifts.

A trend that continues to grow year after year.

This week, Europe 1 was able to visit a distribution center of Amazon, the world leader in online commerce in Augny in Moselle.

In this site, one of the largest of the American giant in France, millions of packages have been prepared in recent weeks. 

400 permanent hires

Covering an area of ​​182,000m², spread over four floors, this warehouse is running at full speed.

“From the last week of November, until December 23, it is the peak of activity in terms of shipping”, confirms Pierre-Louis Debroise, director of operations of the site.

To keep pace, the company had to hire.

"We have signed around 350 permanent contracts for this winter and we will be doing another fifty by December 31. We also had to hire roughly the same number of seasonal workers," he explains. 

Hundreds of packages pass through this warehouse every day

In total, the site has 4,000 employees, including a quarter of temporary workers.

The human retains a place of choice in this distribution center, even if each step is automated.

Conveyor belts enter directly into the trucks of the suppliers to unload the goods.

All items are classified and stored in thousands of rolling shelves, also automated, which move autonomously towards the employees.

"It's to avoid them having to walk for miles every day," explains Pierre-Louis Debroise.

25 kilometers of treadmill 

Johanna is working on the penultimate stage of this gigantic chain.

It is about the packaging of the articles, which his colleagues on the upper floors send him in large bins.

"We scan them and the computer tells us which box to choose, depending on the size and weight of the object," she shows.

"Then, a label is automatically created, with a barcode. We stick it on the parcel to ensure its follow-up, towards the expedition!"

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At the moment, she confirms that a lot of toys pass through these bins.

"We are Santa's little elves, it's adorable" smiles this mother.

"It's a bit thanks to us", if the children can open their presents at the foot of the tree, she rejoices.

Between the order and the truck, a gift generally takes between 1h30 and 2h to be ready.

And he will sometimes have traveled up to 25 kilometers on the treadmill.