1Pact expands to the South of France and provides stability to the logistics sector in Aix-Marseille-Provence

The Lyon-based company set up an office in Salon-de-Provence to serve the South of France

1Pact has built a flourishing business based on the bold strategy of replacing precarious temporary contracts for interim workers in the logistics sector with more stable permanent contracts. The human resources company opened a branch in Salon-de-Provence in the summer of 2021 to serve the hub around the Port of Marseille-Fos, which features three million square meters of space dedicated to logistics activities. The company’s efforts to combat job insecurity in the logistics sector and its choice of location were recognized with an Invest in Provence award at a ceremony organized by Provence Promotion on January 13, 2023. Provence Promotion helped the company’s local leadership make contacts and build networks in the Aix-Marseille logistics ecosystem.

Based on the employers’ alliance model that allows companies to share employees to cope with peaks of activity, 1Pact offers its workers an open-ended permanent contract and then makes them available to member companies. This three-party model is good for the employees, who benefit from a more stable financial situation, and the companies, which can maintain an agile workforce without the constraints of interim agencies.

«Instead of a series of short-term contracts, the employees benefit from a 35-hour-a-week full-time permanent contract protected by standard labour law. This helps because logistics is traditionally a sector marked by uncertainty and job insecurity,» says Louis-Marie Becker, who leads 1Pact’s Provence-Languedoc Roussillon division. In July 2021, 1Pact selected Salon-de-Provence, which is close to both Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, as the location for its office.

Supported by Provence Promotion, 1Pact was able to benefit from customised business intelligence about the logistics sector in the South of France. «This region is characterized by a particularly dynamic employment basin that is home to major international logistics companies and shippers. Provence Promotion provided invaluable help by identifying potential development opportunities and putting us in touch with the main stakeholders involved in the employment pool, such as trade unions for transporters and associations for logistics companies,» adds Louis-Marie Becker. 1Pact also actively recruits people that have difficulty entering the employment market. Louis-Marie Becker explains that after training with 1Pact, they can work as forklift drivers, handlers, order pickers, sorters, team leaders, or stock managers. 

100 permanent jobs in Provence-Languedoc Roussillon

Within a few months of launching the Salon-de-Provence office, 1Pact had already signed 90 people to permanent contracts. «We are aiming for 100 permanent hires soon,» says Louis-Marie Becker, whose agency relies on a local team of five people to manage the business. Companies in the logistics sector are also quickly committing to the business model and 1Pact  already has 19 partners, including industry leaders such as the STEF Group, La Poste, and Auchan.

«By providing permanent contracts, 1Pact can reach a new pool of potential employees since we offer a stable job, an annual attendance bonus, a value-sharing bonus, and good health insurance. Thanks to the administrative value of having a permanent contract, they can take out loans with their bank, rent an apartment, make plans for the future, and develop their career,» says Louis-Marie Becker. “As for our partner companies, after a few months, they have the opportunity of directly recruiting the best 1Pact employees.»

The Salon-de-Provence office is the 10th branch in France for the company, which has its headquarters in Lyon. The 1Pact office in Salon-de-Provence is already alleviating recruitment difficulties in key logistics zones in the Aix-Marseille-Provence territory such as Clésud, Fos Distriport, La Feuillane, Saint-Martin-de-Crau, Aix-Les Milles, and Vitrolles. In total, there are three million square meters of logistics warehouses within thirty kilometres of the Port of Marseille-Fos.

Today, 1Pact has 1500 employees on permanent contracts throughout France.