Robots will soon outnumber humans working in Amazon warehouses, the company says, after years of investment into automation that has replaced people with machines in many jobs. Amazon told The Wall Street Journal that robots now help enable about 75% of its deliveries.
Amazon said it has deployed more than 1 million robots so far. It currently employs about 1.56 million people, most of them in fulfillment centers.
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Fewer workers, higher productivity
The shift toward an automated workforce has increased productivity, Amazon said, and has alleviated issues linked to the high turnover rate among staff at its warehouses. As of 2024, the Journal reported, each facility employed about 670 people, the fewest in 16 years.
Rueben Scriven, a research manager at the robotics consulting firm Interact Analysis, said the announcement shows that Amazon is “one step closer to that realization of the full integration of robotics.”
Artificial intelligence has also contributed to the increased growth in automation. Amazon’s chief executive, Andy Jassy, told the Journal that the company uses AI “to improve inventory placement, demand forecasting and the efficiency of our robots.” Amazon expects to cut its workforce even further over the next several years.
Blue-collar concerns
The increasingly swift replacement of humans has led to concerns among blue-collar advocates such as Sheheryar Kaoosji, executive director at the nonprofit Warehouse Worker Resource Center.
Kaoosji said Amazon’s dream was “to have significant reduction of workforce in high-density facilities,” a goal she fears may have negative impacts on employment in the long term.
Amazon, however, said automation has opened up a range of new, higher-paying jobs, including for robot technicians. The company said it has trained more than 700,000 workers globally in new fields such as mechatronics and robotics apprenticeships.
Robots, Amazon says, are meant to make the jobs of human workers easier, not to replace them. The company points to its state-of-the-art facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, where robots enable workers to move products through the warehouse 25% faster than at other locations.
While many of the machines are robotic arms and small vehicles designed to move products, Amazon is testing humanoid robots as well. So far, the robot has been programmed to carry out tasks such as recycling containers, the Journal reported.
Amazon is also exploring the possibility of using robots, transported in electric vans, to deliver packages directly to customers’ front doors.
