SEATTLE – Citing Amazon internal strategy documents, the New York Times revealed earlier this week that Amazon executives “believe the company is on the cusp of its next big workplace shift: replacing more than half a million jobs with robots.”
The lengthy feature by Karen Weise details plans from the nation’s second-largest employer (Walmart is first) to avoid hiring a sizable number of employees it would otherwise need by 2027, a move that would reportedly save “about 30 cents” on each item that Amazon delivers to customers.
“Executives told Amazon’s board last year that they hoped robotic automation would allow the company to continue to avoid adding to its U.S. work force in the coming years, even though they expect to sell twice as many products by 2033,” writes Weise. “That would translate to more than 600,000 people whom Amazon didn’t need to hire.”
At facilities designed for superfast deliveries, Amazon is reportedly trying to create warehouses that employ few humans, with documents showing that Amazon’s robotics team has an ultimate goal to automate 75 percent of its operations.
“Amazon is so convinced this automated future is around the corner that it has started developing plans to mitigate the fallout in communities that may lose jobs,” Weise writes. “Documents show the company has considered building an image as a ‘good corporate citizen’ through greater participation in community events such as parades and Toys for Tots.
“The documents contemplate avoiding using terms like ‘automation’ and ‘A.I.’ when discussing robotics,” Weise continues, “and instead use terms like ‘advanced technology’ or replace the word ‘robot’ with ‘cobot,’ which implies collaboration with humans.”
Amazon responded to the Times, declaring in the article that the documents viewed were “incomplete and did not represent the company’s overall hiring strategy. Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Amazon, said the documents reflected the viewpoint of one group inside the company and noted that Amazon planned to hire 250,000 people for the coming holiday season, though the company declined to say how many of those roles would be permanent.”