Amazon predicted to soon employ more robots than humans

Amazon, the largest online retailer in the world, is well known for its innovative use of technology to streamline its operations. The company has been investing heavily in automation and robotics in recent years, with the goal of making its warehouses more efficient and reducing labour costs. As a result, it is predicted that within seven years Amazon will employ more robots in its operations than human workers.

Amazon’s first foray into automation came in 2012, when it acquired Kiva Systems and began deploying AMRs in its warehouses. Since then, Amazon has continued to develop and implement new technologies to automate as much of its operations as possible. Recently it announced a new industrial robotic arm that the company says is capable of handling “millions of diverse products”.

According to some reports, Amazon currently employs over 800,000 human workers, but it has recently announced the lay-off of around 18,000 corporate workers, as have many other companies recently. Amazon says the lay-offs were not warehouse workers.

A study by researchers at MIT and Boston University in 2020 concluded that an average of 3.3 workers are replaced for every robot installed in most large-scale businesses. However, studies by organisations such as the International Federation of Robotics also show that increasing use of robotics also adds employment opportunities in other ways, somewhat offsetting the loss of manual labour jobs.

“We design and deploy collaborative robotics and technology in our operations to advance safety and support our employees as they deliver for our customers,” said Alisa Caroll, PR Manager, Global Media Relations, Operations at Amazon. “Our robots take on repetitive and strenuous tasks so our employees can focus their time and energy elsewhere.

“Ever since we introduced robotics to our facilities 10 years ago, we have added hundreds of thousands of people to Amazon’s workforce and created over 700 new types of jobs that design, build, maintain and work alongside our technology.”

The benefit for Amazon is obvious: it will be able to handle a much larger volume of packages and deliveries, leading to faster shipping times for customers. Hopefully it will also be beneficial for those workers who remain, with the company receiving negative press in recent years for its treatment of warehouse workers.

According to TechCrunch, Amazon Robotics had installed 520,000 robots across its fulfilment and sorting centres as of June last year.

Amazon’s shift to a more automated workforce is a major turning point in the company’s history. With robots expected to soon outnumber human workers, Amazon is positioning itself at the forefront of warehouse automation.