Amazon has replaced 100,000 employees with 750,000 robots

Amazon.com Inc. is the second largest employer in the world, with 1.5 million employees. Compared to its 2021 peak, however, it has seen a reduction of more than 100,000 employees in parallel with the expansion of its robotic fleet, which grew from 200,000 machines in 2019 to 520,000 in 2022, and now stands at 750,000, as reported by media outlets as yahoo finance and Business Standard.

Amazon’s robots are designed to perform repetitive tasks, improving efficiency, safety, and delivery speed. Specifically, the new Sequoia accelerates inventory management and order processing, while Digit – a bipedal robot developed with Agility Robotics – handles tasks like moving empty boxes.

Amazon, like many other companies, claims that robots have relieved employees from menial tasks and led to the creation of new categories of skilled work – as many as 700, according to Amazon. Nonetheless, the loss of jobs worries the public, almost like a nightmare coming true. Some research, including studies from MIT, highlights that industrial robots can negatively impact jobs and wages in the areas where they are deployed. Therefore, everyone agrees that it is crucial during this transition phase to focus on training opportunities so that humans can take on occupations requiring higher levels of skill and creativity.

Opening image by Arseny Togulev on Unsplash.