“It went beyond our expectations!” For François Grosdidier, the mayor (ex-LR) of Metz, the arrival of Amazon is almost a miracle. The logistics warehouse that the e-commerce giant has been overseeing for a year and a half in Augny, south-west of the city, instead of a former military air base, has disrupted the local economy. With nearly 4,000 permanent employees, this parcel storage and shipping center more than compensates for the 2,500 jobs lost in 2012 following the departure of helicopter pilots and their mechanics. “Young people without qualifications in our territory, RSA recipients and long-term job seekers benefit from a unique opportunity”, abounds Cyril Potin, director of Pôle emploi in Montigny-lès-Metz. Especially since Amazon plays the game: 76% of agents recruited are former unemployed, 61% are under 35 and 44% are women (compared to 26% in the logistics sector).
Mandated by the management, the firm Roland Berger also quantified the collateral effects of this establishment. The approach is as original as it is instructive. By adding the indirect jobs created by the site’s subcontractors, and those induced by the consumption expenditure of employees, the American group has brought nearly 500 additional jobs to the Moselle, of which it has become the first private employer. “Not to mention the benefits for public finances, continues Alain Chagnaud, senior partner at Roland Berger: locally, there are 2 million euros in tax revenue paid to the municipality of Augny and the Eurometropolis of Metz, and as many RSA saved by the department At the national level, it is estimated that 9 million euros in social contributions deducted from employees’ salaries and 24 million euros in savings made by Unedic on unemployment benefits. over the year, 37 million euros of positive contributions for the community.”
Amazon has done the accounts. And let it be known. Faced with the criticisms it regularly faces on the rates imposed on its troops and the low qualification of its trades, the French subsidiary has so far put forward its policy of diploma certifications, with the “Amazon School” created in partnership with the National Agency for Adult Vocational Training (Afpa). Or the ingenuity of its robots – the youngest, called “Sparrow”, can detect, select and manipulate each item individually – which, assures David Lewkowitz, president of Amazon France Logistique, “allow employees to work more on fixed positions. Thanks to the robots, they no longer go to the shelves, it is the shelves that come to them”.
This impact study on Augny makes it possible to renew the genre, this time putting forward ringing arguments, which speak to the public authorities. Like the property tax or the CVAE, the contribution on the added value, paid by the company. A way to definitively settle the years of falling out with the tax authorities and to melt Amazon into the French industrial landscape.