Amazon Plans to Replace 500,000 People With Robots

[lightbright]

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) hired over 200,000 part-time workers to help with holiday sales. That is good news for the overall economy. It indicates that people plan to spend briskly over the holidays. That, in turn, will help Amazon’s e-commerce top line. However, those people may not get jobs next year, and many full-time employees may find themselves out of work as well.

The New York Times got ahold of confidential Amazon documents that indicate the company plans to automate huge numbers of tasks that are done by people. Robots will take over their workload. Management also told its board that it expects a surge in orders, reaching twice the current level by 2033.

“Robots” is another word for AI-based automation that can replace most of the people who work in its massive warehouses. These are central to Amazon’s ability to deliver items to customers in one or two days. By most estimates, Amazon has 350 warehouses worldwide and another 1,200 logistics facilities.

The Times quoted Daron Acemoglu, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has a Nobel Prize in economics. He said, “Nobody else has the same incentive as Amazon to find a way to automate.” To accomplish this, the company’s e-commerce division will need nearly a million robots. Presumably, the plan will save hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Amazon indeed has a powerful incentive to set up a more automated system. Its North American e-commerce margins are thin. In the most recent quarter, revenue for the region was $100 billion and operating income was $7.5 billion.

Amazon is uniquely positioned for the plan. It is among the early leaders in artificial intelligence. Up against Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, and OpenAI, it plans to invest $100 billion in the technology this year. That is a staggering amount, even for the second-largest company in the United States as measured by revenue. It can recoup at least some of that AI investment by significantly cutting its e-commerce workforce.

Amazon Stock Price Prediction and Forecast 2025-2030

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-plans-replace-500-000-141540433.html

 

[Dannyblueyes]

Good!

Once those plants are fully automated cities will stop giving tax incentives people will get better paying jobs somewhere else

 

[lightbright]

Good!

Once those plants are fully automated cities will stop giving tax incentives people will get better paying jobs somewhere else

Every time I speak to one of those customer service reps, which I prefer to do, I tell them that AI and Bezos are coming for them..... I get anoying prompts that try to steer me away from a live person and towards a computer link for an Amazon chatbot


.

 

[tallblacknyc]

Good!

Once those plants are fully automated cities will stop giving tax incentives people will get better paying jobs somewhere else

Or places that lack jobs in their towns will really have no jobs now that robots gonna displace them

 

[Dannyblueyes]

Or places that lack jobs in their towns will really have no jobs now that robots gonna displace them

Which is why giving tax incentives to big business is usually a terrible idea. Instead, cities should use that money to incentivize smaller locally owned businesses. Otherwise you might as well turn city council over to Emperor Bezos too.

 

[tallblacknyc]

Which is why giving tax incentives to big business is usually a terrible idea. Instead, cities should use that money to incentivize smaller locally owned businesses. Otherwise you might as well turn city council over to Emperor Bezos too.

20 small biz might not even employ 100+ people combine, yet 1 Amazon location can employ hundreds to thousands of people.. a biz doesn't necessarily create lots of job opportunities especially if it's small

 

[Dannyblueyes]

20 small biz might not even employ 100+ people combine, yet 1 Amazon location can employ hundreds to thousands of people.. a biz doesn't necessarily create lots of job opportunities especially if it's small

It's possible, but 100 employees for 20 businesses would be a pretty skewed sample. Instead, let's go with the American average of 11 employees per small business.

Now let's do the math.

An Amazon facility in Arlington, Virginia received $573 million in tax incentives and employs 25,000 people. That's $22,920 per employee.

If Arlington used that money as a small business stimulus that average 11 person company would receive $252,120. That's a lot of money to expand and hire more people.

Even if some of these businesses go under, you're talking about a few dozen people losing their jobs rather than thousands when a large company shutters or replaces their staff with robots.

 

[Day_Carver]

It's possible, but 100 employees for 20 businesses would be a pretty skewed sample. Instead, let's go with the American average of 11 employees per small business.

Now let's do the math.

An Amazon facility in Arlington, Virginia received $573 million in tax incentives and employs 25,000 people. That's $22,920 per employee.

If Arlington used that money as a small business stimulus that average 11 person company would receive $252,120. That's a lot of money to expand and hire more people.

Even if some of these businesses go under, you're talking about a few dozen people losing their jobs rather than thousands when a large company shutters or replaces their staff with robots.

Now thats a great example only if the city/state would use the money to help people/businesses; but we all know the real and most likely that money wont be used for that...

 

[RoadRage]

Too keep, the competition will be forced to reduce their overhead by Aldo slash spending on labor and befor every business would be ran by A.I. and automated robots, with one major problem, hone eoild be the consumers yo purchase these products due to them being out of a job.
Their thinking is very ape like, basically ape sees banana and destroying the tree to get to it, even if its the last banana tree, unable to understand the in his folly decision to quench his immediate greed without considering its long term ramifications!

 

[mcguyver]

Good!

Once those plants are fully automated cities will stop giving tax incentives people will get better paying jobs somewhere else

What better paying jobs? Doesn't automation reduce job opportunities?

 

[mcguyver]

Every time I speak to one of those customer service reps, which I prefer to do, I tell them that AI and Bezos are coming for them..... I get anoying prompts that try to steer me away from a liveperson and towards a computer link for an Amazon chatbot


.

Bruh I just cussed out paypal's credit AI. That mofo had me heated. I was so pissed of i closed the account. Lol I ain't even lying.

 

[godofwine]

I saw this last night. Fuck his world man.

White people by and large continue to do everything They can to fuck as much of the masses as they can possibly do. The world has never seen a more destructive force, and intentionally, too.

It's not like a wildfire, but like a nuclear bomb that gives birth to more nuclear bombs, and more nuclear bombs.

 

[godofwine]

Everything they do is not in the name of innovation, it's in the name of greed. Slavery was all about greed. The Amazon robots, it's all about greed. This time, it's greed by the most wealthy people in the world who refuse to trickle down anything

 

[Dannyblueyes]

What better paying jobs? Doesn't automation reduce job opportunities?

Not necessarily.

DoorDash made it so restaurants didn't have to man the phones to take orders. That meant they could spend more manpower making the food while the ease of ordering increased volume.

For manufacturing, if you have a window factory and automate your top five sizes you can have your employees do odd sizes and custom orders. That makes it hit a premium service so you can charge more and pay your people better.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

Too keep, the competition will be forced to reduce their overhead by Aldo slash spending on labor and befor every business would be ran by A.I. and automated robots, with one major problem, hone eoild be the consumers yo purchase these products due to them being out of a job.
Their thinking is very ape like, basically ape sees banana and destroying the tree to get to it, even if its the last banana tree, unable to understand the in his folly decision to quench his immediate greed without considering its long term ramifications!

There's other ways to do it. Trader Joe's did it by making their parking lot smaller. That way they spent less money on real estate that wasn't turning a profit.

They got rid of sales, coupons, and made everything store brand. That way their inventory is easier to manage and they don't need to waste time changing prices.

I'll take a new mindset over a new technology any time.

 

[mcguyver]

Not necessarily.

DoorDash made it so restaurants didn't have to man the phones to take orders. That meant they could spend more manpower making the food while the ease of ordering increased volume.

For manufacturing, if you have a window factory and automate your top five sizes you can have your employees do odd sizes and custom orders. That makes it hit a premium service so you can charge more and pay your people better.

This is nonsense, Companies do not get automation to make employees jobs easier. They get automation to get rid of employees.

Door dash is not automation

 

[Day_Carver]

Too keep, the competition will be forced to reduce their overhead by Aldo slash spending on labor and befor every business would be ran by A.I. and automated robots, with one major problem, hone eoild be the consumers yo purchase these products due to them being out of a job.
Their thinking is very ape like, basically ape sees banana and destroying the tree to get to it, even if its the last banana tree, unable to understand the in his folly decision to quench his immediate greed without considering its long term ramifications!

Actually the only animals that think line that are humans! Animals and nature are balanced and harmonious! They and nature only become unbalanced because of humans and human intervention! So what you mean to say is it’s very human like thinking….

 

[RoadRage]

There's other ways to do it. Trader Joe's did it by making their parking lot smaller. That way they spent less money on real estate that wasn't turning a profit.

They got rid of sales, coupons, and made everything store brand. That way their inventory is easier to manage and they don't need to waste time changing prices.

I'll take a new mindset over a new technology any time.

Unless companies come up with a strategy that gives displaced workers profits from the tech that stole their jobs, there wouldn't be enough working-class people to purchase the very same products that they can produce cheaper and faster with automation and A.I., it's literally killing the tree to get to the juicy ripe banana.
Now they will lie to you and tell you that A.I. will bring more jobs, but that's a lie, because these same executives are telling their investors that they stand to gain more in return due to reduced spending on not having to pay salaries and healthcare to the robots. In short, the money that they are saving on workers would go to the investors, and unless these investors are somehow able to spend the same amount of money that all of the laid-off workers used to pay (something improbable), all companies that rely on revenue from customer purchases will suffer due to the obvious customer reduction.

 

[blackbull1970]

Good!

Once those plants are fully automated cities will stop giving tax incentives people will get better paying jobs somewhere else

Better paying jobs somewhere else?

Good luck finding one of those better paying jobs.

 

[lightbright]

lol..... I swear Amazon must be watching me or something, now I keep seeing Amazon commercials talking about the health and other benefits and the $23/hr you get working for Anazon..... they trying to suck/lure mofos in and achieve that 250K workers hiring goal for the busy season, and for the third year in a row I might add..... wait till they get a load of the robots in a few years as they gradually get let go.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

This is nonsense, Companies do not get automation to make employees jobs easier. They get automation to get rid of employees.

Door dash is not automation

Before DoorDash your local pizza chef had to stop cooking, take your order, and write a ticket every time the phone rang.. now he doesn't need to leave the oven because the app does it for him..

How is that not automation?

Also, Remember punch card time clocks? 30 years ago The company accountant had to pull them out of the slots, tabulate the numbers, multiply your hourly wage by hours worked, and issue you a check.

Now it's all automated by computer which is why companies no longer hire accountants.

Except of course they still do!

The point of automation is to let machines handle simple repetitive tasks so human workers can make better use of their time.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

Better paying jobs somewhere else?

Good luck finding one of those better paying jobs.

Japan automates as much as it possibly can. Many of their convenience stores and small restaurants have been replaced by vending machines. They're automotive assembly lines have robots Americans couldn't even dream of.It probably explains their sky high unemployment rate.

Except, It's not sky high. Their unemployment rate is 35% lower than ours.

So let the robots handle all the simple repetitive tasks well we use our complicated abstract brains to figure out the rest.

 

[tallblacknyc]

Before DoorDash your local pizza chef had to stop cooking, take your order, and write a ticket every time the phone rang.. now he doesn't need to leave the oven because the app does it for him..

How is that not automation?

Also, Remember punch card time clocks? 30 years ago The company accountant had to pull them out of the slots, tabulate the numbers, multiply your hourly wage by hours worked, and issue you a check.

Now it's all automated by computer which is why companies no longer hire accountants.

Except of course they still do!

The point of automation is to let machines handle simple repetitive tasks so human workers can make better use of their time.

Your pizza was in the oven or on the side waiting to get warmed up.. Phone call took 1 min max .. Unless they getting hundreds of calls per hour you didn't need another worker for that.. Doordash didn't create a job..in fact it took some away.. Your food delivery place had a driver or 2 that got paid an hourly wage plus tips.. With door dash no need to get a driver so now that guy out the job.. Also door dash takes money away per order so lots of places have to deduct money from their profits, in fact some places had to increase prices due to door dash percentage on orders which in some cases some biz said they lost customers cause they didn't want to pay those prices.. So door dash hurt some biz.. Hell weren't you always complaining about being a door dash delivery person how they cut ya money

 

[tallblacknyc]

Japan automates as much as it possibly can. Many of their convenience stores and small restaurants have been replaced by vending machines. They're automotive assembly lines have robots Americans couldn't even dream of.It probably explains their sky high unemployment rate.

Except, It's not sky high. Their unemployment rate is 35% lower than ours.

So let the robots handle all the simple repetitive tasks well we use our complicated abstract brains to figure out the rest.

Hundreds of thousands maybe over a million people are cashiers across america.. Depending on city/ State some of these people could be making 15/20/20+ an hr.. If you made every place self checkout you just eliminated 6-7 fig jobs.. These simple task jobs employ high school students, college students, people who graduated, elderly, people on public assistance, parents, single parents, some people with disabilities, people who just trying to make a living, people in between careers, etc.. If you get robots to do those jobs you just made all those people unemployed.. People who have kids, keep roofs over their heads, trying to make it out of poverty, pay for college intuition, people who might be trying to start a biz, etc.. You see how automation can literally fuck up people lives?