Amazon plans to replace 160,000 US jobs with robots by 2027: Report

Amazon is planning to replace 160,000 jobs in the US with robots by 2027. The e-commerce giant’s automation team is of the opinion that the company can avoid hiring over 160,000 people in the US with automation, as it would otherwise need to recruit by 2027, adding that it would save the company 30 cents on each item it packs and delivers.

Can avoid 600,000 hiring by 2033

According to a report in the New York Times, executives have told Amazon’s board last year that they were optimistic about robotic automation allowing the company being able to avoid adding to its workforce in the US. They further stated that they expect Amazon to sell double the products by 2033.

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“That would translate to more than 600,000 people whom Amazon didn’t need to hire,” stated the report.

The report further stated that Amazon was trying to set up warehouses where, due to automation, very few human workers will be required. The New York Times report cites documents showing that the robotics team aims to automate 75 per cent of Amazon’s operations.

Avoids using words like 'automation', robot

The documents, however, do not use words like “automation” and “artificial intelligence” with regard to robotics and instead use terms like “advanced technology”. The documents also do not mention the word “robot” and instead use the term “cobot”, suggesting collaboration with humans.

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“Nobody else has the same incentive as Amazon to find the way to automate,” said Daron Acemoglu, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who won the Nobel Prize in economic science last year, as quoted by the New York Times.

Amazon says documents incomplete

Amazon, however, said that documents seen by the New York Times were incomplete and do not reflect the company’s overall hiring strategy. On the contrary, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said that the company plans to hire 250,000 people for the coming holiday season.

Amazon has undertaken several rounds of layoffs across multiple divisions. In May, around 100 employees were dismissed from its devices and services unit, which manages Alexa, Echo, and Ring products.

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Earlier, in January, the company reduced staff in its communications department to streamline operations and strengthen customer focus.

CEO Andy Jassy has stated that as Amazon increasingly adopts AI and automation, fewer workers will be required for some existing roles, resulting in a leaner corporate workforce driven by efficiency gains.