Amazon To Replace 5 Lakh Jobs With Robots, Preparing For Backlash: Report

Amazon may soon replace more than half a million jobs with robots, the New York Times reported, based on internal documents it accessed.

The robotics team's goal, the report stated, is to automate 75 per cent of operations, with warehouses that employ the fewest possible humans.

The report claims that the e-commerce giant's automation team expects that the company can avoid hiring more than 1,60,000 people in the United States it would otherwise need by 2027. This will save the company around 30 cents or Rs 26 on every item Amazon picks, packs and delivers. The robot automation, executives said, would avoid 6,00,000 hirings by 2033 even though they expect to sell twice as many products. Currently, Amazon employs around 1.2 million workers.

Preparing for this workplace shift and the backlash it is certain to lead to, the documents mention using "advanced technology" instead of "automation" and "artificial intelligence", and "cobots" (collaboration of humans and robots) instead of "robots". Amazon has also considered building an image as a "good corporate citizen" through greater participation in community events, the New York Times reported.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel was quoted by the New York Times as saying that 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. The company did not provide clarity on whether the hires will be contractual or permanent.

Amazon's first big push into robotic automation came in 2012, when it bought robotics maker Kiva for $775 million. Last year, the company launched its most advanced warehouse, wherein around 1,000 robots would process a package with close to no human involvement.