Augustin Hans is a third-year engineering student in theMechanical Engineering programat the Châlons-en-Champagne campus. An apprentice in new construction/maintenance at a large metallurgy group, he was placed on telework at the start of lockdown and is now on partial unemployment. Testimonial.
How is work going at the company?
In our third year, we resumed our work placement on March 2. I stayed at the office until the 17th, when the government imposed lockdown measures and my manager asked us to work from home.
For my part, I work on projects to improve and design production equipment for manufacturing lines. This meant I could continue working remotely on the project management side of things (writing reports, contacting subcontractors, reviewing quotes, etc.), but I was stuck on the design side. This involves working on existing machines or reviewing solutions with line operators—in short, tasks that require meetings with a lot of staff who were not available to work remotely.
That's why our manager has put the team I'm part of on temporary layoff for an indefinite period (which is normal given the situation).
How do you keep in touch with your school friends and colleagues?
We have a messaging system, and a few days ago, we got back in touch with our fellow apprentices from other campuses. A sports weekend was planned for March 28 and 29, where allArts et Métiers apprenticesArts et Métiers get together. Of course, it was canceled due to the lockdown.
As for work, I was in daily contact with my apprenticeship supervisor during the teleworking period. Since we stopped working altogether, I have been talking to him on the phone at least once a week, primarily to catch up and review the progress of our projects.
Can you describe a typical day in lockdown?
I went back to my parents' house in Lorraine. We have some land around our house, so we're keeping ourselves busy like I think a lot of people are: we're repainting our shed, trimming the hedges... We're spending time maintaining the outside and doing tasks that we kept putting off.
Otherwise, I've taken up reading again. As with the outside, I had a lot of books just waiting to be read...
How do you feel about lockdown?
I can't complain, I always have something to do. The idea is not to stop, because otherwise it will be difficult to get back to work once the crisis is over.
