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Amazon Reportedly Plans to Replace Over 600,000 U.S. Jobs with Automation by 2033
Amazon is reportedly advancing automation plans that could replace over 600,000 U.S. jobs by 2033 to cut costs and boost efficiency.
Drone making an online delivery picture by Unsplash
Amazon is reportedly moving forward with extensive automation plans that could prevent the company from hiring more than half a million U.S. workers over the next decade, according to a report by The New York Times. Citing internal documents and interviews, the report states that Amazon’s robotics initiatives aim to replace more than 600,000 jobs in the United States by 2033, even as the company expects its product sales to double during that period.
The internal strategy documents reportedly show that Amazon’s robotics division is targeting 75 percent automation of the company’s entire operations, which could eliminate 160,000 U.S. roles that would otherwise be required by 2027. The automation measures are projected to save the company around 30 cents per item handled in its warehouses and delivered to customers, resulting in an estimated 12.6 billion dollars in savings between 2025 and 2027.
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According to The New York Times, Amazon has also considered ways to mitigate potential backlash over job reductions by improving its public image as a good corporate citizen. The company reportedly discussed participating in community projects and avoiding terminology such as automation and artificial intelligence. Instead, more neutral terms like advanced technology and cobot a term for robots designed to collaborate with humans were considered.
In response to the report, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told The Verge that the leaked documents represent the views of only one internal team and do not reflect the company’s broader hiring strategy.
“Leaked documents often paint an incomplete and misleading picture of our plans, and that’s the case here,” Nantel said. “In our written narrative culture, thousands of documents circulate throughout the company at any given time, each with varying degrees of accuracy and timeliness. We’re actively hiring at operations facilities across the country and recently announced plans to fill 250,000 positions for the holiday season.”
Amazon also told The New York Times that company executives have not been directed to avoid certain terms related to robotics and that its community engagement initiatives are unrelated to automation efforts.
Economist Daron Acemoglu, winner of the Nobel Prize in economic science last year, told The New York Times that Amazon’s push toward automation could have widespread effects beyond the company itself. “Nobody else has the same incentive as Amazon to find the way to automate. Once they work out how to do this profitably, it will spread to others, too,” he said. Acemoglu added that if Amazon reaches its automation targets, one of the biggest employers in the United States will become a net job destroyer, not a net job creator.
And while Amazon focuses on automation to optimize efficiency and costs, workers and consumers alike are reminded of the value of being well-prepared in changing environments. Speaking of efficiency and readiness, the 5.11 Tactical Backpack, Rush 72 2.0 Military Molle Pack built for organization and durability might be the perfect choice for anyone navigating their own fast-paced world, whether that’s in the field or the warehouse.
