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♪ >> reporter: making a list. checking it twice. but whether you're naughty or nice, chances are that iconic amazon logo has hit your door this holiday season. >> do you feel like modern-day santa? >> yes, ma'am. >> reporter: in this staten island neighborhood, while many are living in lockdown, jared holmes robinson is busy working on the front lines. >> have a good day, happy holiday! >> you too. >> reporter: the young dad visiting 100-plus homes a day. delivering packages for amazon. >> feel like a hero. knight in shining armor, here i come. packages in my hand, rabbit in the other. i lost my father back in june. so i know how important it is for someone to be able to deliver for them, to be able to be there on time, so they can have what they need. >> reporter: jared started working at amazon a year ago after he lost his job at a solar panel company. while most companies were crippled by covid, the trillion-dollar e-commerce giant tripled profits, hiring 250,000 more employees to meet demand. now jared is one of more than 1 million employees working for amazon this holiday season. >> amazon from a purely business perspective is out to dominate the world. they want to be the one-stop shop for everyone. they want people to watch their movies on their platform, on amazon prime. they want you to buy diapers from amazon. they want you to buy your books. amazon wants to be into every fiber of what we do. and eventually the trajectory that they are on, that's where they are heading. >> reporter: and during the holidays, the stakes, even higher. with in-person shopping stifled, amazon is expecting to deliver billions of packages around the world. the journey often starts in one of hundreds of massive warehouses like this one in staten island, new york, where we get a rare behind-the-scenes look at the guts of today's amazon. tracy is the brains behind the operation which includes thermal screening, on-site covid testing, and this nifty technology that ensures social distancing. >> we're getting close. oh, too close. >> reporter: and on any given day this army of robots performs a digitized ballet, transporting up to 1 million items throughout the four-floor complex which measures out to the same size as 15 football fields. >> so it gets stowed, it gets picked. what's happening up here? >> once it's in pick, it's going to follow the conveyor. >> reporter: before covid they employed 3,000 people here. now they boast 4,000 employees, like robert. >> what did you do before you worked here? >> i was in technology, financial companies like merrill lynch and td ameritrade. now at the end of my career, kind of, i'm at amazon locally. >> it's a good second chapter? >> yeah. >> reporter: after a career sitting behind a desk punching a keyboard, robert's at work 11 hours a day, four days a week. lifting, packing, and sending out orders. >> i'm in probably as good of shape as i've ever been as i get older. >> because you're moving so much? >> always moving. lifting things, so your arms build up. you see how big the building is. >> reporter: and today he's training a newbie. >> do i take this out? no? >> just pick it up and scan. >> oh. >> good. remember you've got to pack bottom up. >> bottom up. >> smiley faces down. >> okay. this goes first? >> you want to see your day on the tape. >> okay. whew! like lucille ball and the chocolate episode. >> then you're going to flip the box over, put the item in. again. put it on. >> do me a favor, don't tell jeff bezos i screwed up your workstation, okay? >> reporter: tamecka used to work in health care. now this mom plays a crucial role as a picker. >> what does picking mean? >> this is a fulfillment center, right? so we do the fulfilling. we take the inventory out and send it off to the packer. >> i see. >> they then pack it and ship it to the customer. >> what do you see coming through your circuit regularly? >> well, it depends on what floor you're on. today, like today i'm picking a lot of toys today. i assume last-minute shoppers are trying to get in before christmas. a lot of books. >> you said that your grandma orders a lot through amazon. >> my entire family orders a lot from amazon, to be honest. >> what makes you have your grandma in your mind's eye as you're fulfilling these orders? >> because she's elderly, she doesn't drive anymore. i know she's not the american that has this issue, that's a little older and can't get out like they used to. it gives me a sense of, wow, i made a difference today. >> reporter: but some amazon employees felt differently during the pandemic, organizing walk-outs and protests. >> there of a been very public complaints. whether it's covid safety or demanding workplace conditions or even fair pay issues. how would you say you've responded to that list of criticisms? >> we listen to our critics and we respond. i mean, when you think about what we've done on trying to drive the minimum wage to $15 an hour, we've encouraged other major retailers to join us. we've supported trying to increase the federal minimum wage. it's very important for us that people get paid fairly. >> reporter: john felten, a member of jeff bezos' team, said the company overhauled covid safety protocols but they have haven't been immune. after detecting a new outbreak, they shut down a new jersey warehouse until december 26th. in october the company announced 20,000 of its workers tested positive for covid-19. >> you have 1 million employees. we understand positivity rates. but how do you put those numbers in perspective? >> it's something we take very seriously. we've invested over $10 million in covid safety. we're now doing tests. we are testing employees once every 10 seconds. >> reporter: but with such a massive workforce, and overwhelming market share across industries, amazon has come under criticism for its company culture and business practices. which some say crushes small businesses. >> amazon is still going to be here tomorrow, and your small business might not be. >> i don't want to see these businesses disappear after the pandemic is over. >> it's sad when you see amazon's numbers, yet businesses are closing down all over. >> what is it about your culture or your mission that might fly in the face of perhaps misperception that amazon is the evil empire in some way. >> i come to work focused on the customer. that's the way i think about it. what gets me excited about coming to work is we're trying to solve these huge problems for customers, especially in covid. it's inspiring to see what employees are doing what our drivers are doing, every day, to deliver all these to customers. >> once the pandemic hopefully subsides sooner versus later, these jobs will more than likely stick around, because the way that we shop and the way we do things, amazon has changed the game. >> reporter: but amazon says it keeps up with high demand by partnering with millions of small businesses and outside trucking partners, like john nikalau. >> i think we can all attest to how tough 2020 was, a lot of people struggling. amazon has given me the opportunity to provide a lot of jobs. >> you had five trucks a year ago? >> currently 61 today. >> that's 61 jobs. >> each day, yes. >> reporter: jared represents one of those 61 jobs. >> have a good day, happy holidays! >> you too. >> reporter: full benefits and pay raises for a job well done. >> i know you have a daughter. >> yes, ma'am. >> what do you tell her about what daddy does every day? >> oh, i can't tell her. she says i work for santa. >> she knows? >> she's seen me in the uniform. "daddy, you work for santa." "what am i getting? are you bringing me gifts today?" i'm laughing, oh, man. >> histoooray for santa's helpe rising to the occasion. how one figure skater is creating miracles on ice. yeah!? i switched to geico and got more! more savings on car insurance!? they helped with homeowners, too! ok! plus motorcycle, boat and rv insurance! geico's got you covered! like a blanket! houston? you seeing this? geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. geico. struggling to clean tough messes with wipes? try mr. clean magic eraser sheets. just wet, squeeze and erase icky messes in microwaves and on stovetops for an amazing clean, get the power of mr. clean magic eraser in disposable sheets. new aveeno® restorative skin therapy. with our highest concentration of prebiotic oat intensely moisturizes over time to improve skin's resilience. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™. kisave it slimeball.ting her congestion. to improve skin's resilience. i've upgraded to mucinex. we still have 12 hours to 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you all found a way to pull it off. it's not about the toys or the ornaments but about coming together. santa, santa, you're on mute! just wanted to say thanks. thanks for believing. ♪ you're about to meet one figure skater who's not letting her past injury define her. finding the courage to rekindle her passion and get back on the ice. but first the climb of her life. ♪ ♪ >> the freedom that you feel when you skate outside versus inside is unlike any other. >> reporter: high in the mountains, on frozen alpine lakes like this one, laura cutlavski skates like you've never seen before. >> there's the sky over your head, and like either the wind to your back or just like no wind at all. and you see the reflection of the clouds or the sky in the ice, and it's kind of like a perfect mirror. you're in this like magical world. >> reporter: she blurs the lines between heaven and earth, sports and art. >> i think the novelty of creating art on outdoor like black ice is still very exciting to me. my blade is essentially drawing art. but what's enabling my blade to draw that art is my years and years and years of skating. the challenge is in the technical ability to have a pattern or a shape in my head, and then be able to skate it. >> reporter: she's one of just a few alpine figure skaters in the country. >> the sport goes back a long way, to the beginning of the sport. >> reporter: her art, fating figures, has been around since the victorian era and evolved into the sport we know today. while the practice of skating literal figures fell out of fashion in the '80s -- >> the first figure was the rocker -- >> reporter: the name "figure skating" stuck. >> this has some patterns that like -- look at that, like that is so wild. see, it's cool to try to figure theet patterns out, because i know from my experience with moves in the field, like this is rocker right there. >> reporter: for laura, it's a way of connecting to the history of a sport that's been a lifelong love. >> competing when i was younger, i definitely had my eye on the olympics. i think every young figure skater does. it was my world, it was my life. my parents are working-class parentcial stressors of figure skating were already there. it quickly got to a point where, like, i was increasing in age, but i didn't get my double axle and i wasn't landing triples yet, so i kind of knew that i was not going to make it, like i wasn't on the track. it is kind of frustrating when you realize that, when you figure that out. >> reporter: olympic dreams dashed, laura started skating less as she turned to a more conventional life path. >> i've got my degree in graphic design at penn state. so i'm very much doing my passion now. but there was a little bit of, like, sadness in me that, like, i kind of -- i had to let it go because of, like, societal norms and the career track and all of that. >> reporter: but it was a devastating injury on the ice which threatened to ground laura for good. >> i ended up pulling a disk in my lower back. i was a -- major stress and sadness in my life at that point. >> reporter: the once high-flying girl now feared she would never take flight again. but her love for the ice would actually become a path to her healing. >> the figures for me were the perfect activity to be able to do and go back to when i was nursing this injury. because it was the compressed disk in my back, i couldn't jump or do anything super that valve wi interactive with my upper body. >> reporter: on a winter hike in 2008, she discovered the perfect canvas for her newfound artistry. >> the first time i got to skate rocky mountain national park, it was incredible. the whole ice wasn't s pristine. there was patches of snow. half the ice was covered in snow. but i do remember being able to do some jumps and spins up there. how incredible that was. i just like have fallen in love with that ever since, like the merriment of the beauty of the outdoors and the beauty of the sport. that's where our sport began, outdoors. it wasn't born in an arena, it was born outside. >> reporter: high in the mountains over colorado, laura finds her peace and her pace, cutting figures into fresh ice with mechanical precision. >> you have to really think about the micro muscles in your foot when you're doing it. but it's very meditative. i think i've uniquely refound my lane in the sport, recombining my passions into one thing. >> reporter: finding pristine ice in the wild is no easy feat. earlier this year we joined her on the hunt for that elusive canv canvas. >> i like to tell people, the comparison of what this is is like rarer than a powder day when you find pristine ice. you have to have those perfect conditions where it's super high alpine, and it hasn't snowed in a while. >> reporter: the search for a perfect lake was more like a search for a needle in a haystack. winds whipping from trailhead to trailhead. >> i don't see crystal lake on the map. >> heart lake meadow in colorado is beautiful. we went around to breckenridge, around lake dillon, blue lake, wheeler lake, crystal lake. >> reporter: finally, after an eight-hour day braving the elements, a little patch of ice, though far from pristine. an artist finding her canvas. >> it ended up being, like, a blast. because this patch that we found that was skateable created this little obstacle course, because there are, like, little patches of snow here and there. and i was able to skate through things, do some fun footwork, you know. pop over patches of snow. play around a little bit. it ended up being, like, a magical day. >> and a magical display. up next, the walk to remember for one icu nurse, covid free. mopping? t's better than anything! at the end of a long day, it's the last thing i want to do. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am. the cleaning solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. so, it prevents 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daily dose of confidence. ahonooooo ha! noooooo quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty picks up messes quicker and is 2x more absorbent, so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper. ♪ finally tonight, home for the holidays. it's been a long time coming for icu nurse merlin pongwon of long beach, california. after fighting covid-19 at her workplace. merlin, at times near death, placed on a ventilator. now recovering and grateful for the greatest gift of all. >> i'm thankful that this is my second life. i've been here for nine months. the experience that i'm the one taking care of difficult patients, stuff like that, and now they're taking care of me. >> good-bye! >> bye! >> see ya! >> welcome home, merlin. that's "nightline" for tonight. watch our full episodes on hulu. see you back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.

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