Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots
- Internal documents reviewed by The New York Times show Amazon plans to automate up to 75% of its operations in the coming years.
- The company expects automation to replace or eliminate over 500,000 U.S. jobs by 2033, primarily in warehouses and fulfillment centers.
- By 2027, automation could allow Amazon to avoid hiring around 160,000 new workers, saving about 30 cents per package shipped.
- This strategy is projected to save $12.6 billion in labor costs between 2025 and 2027.
- Amazon’s workforce tripled since 2018 to approximately 1.2 million U.S. employees, but automation is expected to stabilize or reduce future headcount despite rising sales.
- Executives presented to the board that automation could let the company double sales volume by 2033 without needing additional hires.
- Amazon’s Shreveport, Louisiana warehouse serves as the model for the future: it operates with 25% fewer workers and about 1,000 robots.
- A new facility in Virginia Beach and retrofitted older ones like Stone Mountain, Georgia, are following this design, which may shift employment toward more temporary and technical roles.
- The company is instructing staff to use softer language—such as “advanced technology” or “cobots” (collaborative robots)—instead of terms like “AI” or “robots,” to ease concerns about job loss.
- Amazon has begun planning community outreach initiatives (parades, local events) to offset the reputational risks of large-scale automation.
- The company has denied that the documents represent official policy, claiming they reflect the views of one internal group, and emphasized ongoing seasonal hiring (250,000 roles for holidays).
- Analysts suggest this plan could serve as a blueprint for other major employers, including Walmart and UPS, potentially reshaping U.S. blue‑collar job markets.
- The automation push continues a trajectory started with Amazon’s $775 million acquisition of Kiva Systems in 2012, which introduced mobile warehouse robots that revolutionized internal logistics.
- Recent innovations include robots like Blue Jay, Vulcan, and Proteus, aimed at performing tasks such as sorting, picking, and packaging with minimal human oversight.
- Long-term, Amazon may require fewer warehouse workers but more robot technicians and engineers, signaling a broader shift in labor type rather than total employment.