Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce retailer. If there is anything you want, you can get it there. But how do they accomplish this? Only through teams of workers. But not all of Amazon’s employees are human. Amazon’s Robot Army: Should this worry human workers?
So Amazon claims to have 45,000 robots on their roster. That’s 15,000 more robots than what they had in December 2015. There is little way to calculate robot-to-human worker rates. And I am no math major. But numbers say Amazon increased their overall work staff 46% in the last 12 months. Keep in mind Q4 2016 numbers aren’t up yet. However, I can’t help but wonder how much of this increase includes Amazon’s robot army.
Amazon invests heavily in robotics. That’s nothing new. For example, back in 2012, they bought out Kiva Systems. Now, Kiva System’s robots do much of Amazon’s work. Then there are concerning statements from Amazon CFO Brian?Olsavsky. Back in April, he said he the robots changed many times, and Amazon will continue to learn and grow through this process. Okay, that’s not that alarming. But then he said some centers are ‘fully outfitted’ in robots. Furthermore, he added, “…maybe the volume’s not perfect for robot volume.” Should this concern me? Or am I reading too much into Amazon’s robot army?
Let’s give Amazon the credit they deserve. They employ many ?thousands of human beings every year. In fact, from May-August 2016 alone, they added over 11,000 jobs in the Seattle area alone! This doesn’t include the centers they opened up nationally and globally. This is awesome for local and national economies. But this is why Amazon’s robot army worries me a bit. The robot trend worries other Americans too, especially those in IT support. I don’t want to compete with a robot for my job. Neither does a computer technician, nor does anybody in computer repair. And certainly no Amazon workers wants to lose his/her job to a robot. So should Amazon’s robot army worry human workers?