Amazon Looks To Replace Five Lakh Employees With Robots By 2033: Report

Amazon Inc., the global e-commerce giant, is looking to replace around 500,000 workers with robots by 2033, the New York Times reported, citing internal documents and interviews it reviewed.

The documents, scrutinised by NYT, reveal that Amazon’s robotics team is looking at the automation of 75% of the company’s entire operations, which could avoid 160,000 additional hirings by 2027.

The move could allow Amazon to save about $12.6 billion from now till 2027, and around 30 cents on every product it delivers to customers, the report added, citing the documents.

In anticipation of the backlash due to the planned move, Amazon has mulled over measures that improve brand's image, such as participating in community projects and avoiding the use of terms like 'AI' and 'automation', according to the publication. Instead, it has reportedly considered using terms like "advanced technology", and "co-bots" in place of robots to suggest that the bots will not replace humans but work alongside them.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel, however, told a news media outlet that the leaked documents reflect the views of just one team of Amazon, and not of the entire company.

“Leaked documents often paint an incomplete and misleading picture of our plans, and that’s the case here. In our written narrative culture, thousands of documents circulate throughout the company at any given time, each with varying degrees of accuracy and timeliness,” The Verge quoted her as saying.

Nantel reportedly added that the company is actively recruiting for its facilities across the United States, and recently unveiled plans to "fill 250,000 positions" in view of the upcoming holiday season.