Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots - NYT

[In It to Win It]

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Over the past two decades, no company has done more to shape the American workplace than Amazon. In its ascent to become the nation’s second-largest employer, it has hired hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers, built an army of contract drivers and pioneered using technology to hire, monitor and manage employees.

Now, interviews and a cache of internal strategy documents viewed by The New York Times reveal that Amazon executives believe the company is on the cusp of its next big workplace shift: replacing more than half a million jobs with robots.

Amazon’s U.S. work force has more than tripled since 2018 to almost 1.2 million. But Amazon’s automation team expects the company can avoid hiring more than 160,000 people in the United States it would otherwise need by 2027. That would save about 30 cents on each item that Amazon picks, packs and delivers to customers.

Executives told Amazon’s board last year that they hoped robotic automation would allow the company to continue to avoid adding to its U.S. work force in the coming years, even though they expect to sell twice as many products by 2033. That would translate to more than 600,000 people whom Amazon didn’t need to hire.

At facilities designed for superfast deliveries, Amazon is trying to create warehouses that employ few humans at all. And documents show that Amazon’s robotics team has an ultimate goal to automate 75 percent of its operations.

Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...

— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) 2025-10-21T23:03:36.865Z

[Coventina]

1. Of course they do. So glad I kicked Bezos out of my life!!!

Fuck you Amazon!

I won't buy your crap, I won't watch your shit shows!

You can kiss my snatch!!

[Greg_In_SF]

2. This will be a lot of companies

not just Amazon.

[Wicked Blue]

3. And who will maintain and repair those robots?

[fujiyamasan]

6. Most likely third parties or those that manufacture the robots as part of a service contract

Either way, it’s mostly off Amazon’s books. Those robots don’t require PTO, medical insurance, sick leave, etc.

Humans are well…expensive. It’s why leaving basic necessities like health care to employers is about the worst system you can come up with. It leaves a population stuck to jobs they generally hate.

And when technological shifts occur, which displace employees, you have people sick snd unable to afford health “care”.

[New Breed Leader]

8. gee, it's too bad we don't have a government social system that pays for human healthcare

[Irish_Dem]

4. This is why the billionaires refuse to pay for healthcare for Americans.

We are useless eaters, they don't need us any longer.

Robots are the future.

[fujiyamasan]

5. They're doing this for Wall Street

I mean of course it’s to reduce costs, increase profits, all the usual. But the reality is Amazon stock hasn’t done that great for the past year or more.

The company isn’t really innovating in any other way either. And as terrible a person as Bezos is, at least there was a focus on the customer. Since Jassy took over as CEO, it’s a much worse experience as a customer. They’ve reduced return locations, and they sometimes make you go through some BS red tape to return some items. AWS’ growth has slowed down and both Microsoft and Google are picking up market share with their cloud offerings.

[kimbutgar]

7. So laying off 500,000 people will not create consumers for amazons goods and services

Since the election I have brought from them 3 times and that was out of duress because I had to replace my husbands broken IPAD when he was out of town. And a particular toy my son wanted. But I used to buy 2-4 times a month. Amazon is my last last resort of purchase since Bezos bowed to the orange turd.

[RubyRose]

9. This was predicted a long while back. We're just

Now going to see it implemented.

[flvegan]

10. "...save about 30 cents on each item"

There's your value, folks. That's what your livelihood is worth.

[Passages]

11. Greed is a serious disease.

We need a vaccine for it, it's called overturning Citizens United.

[moondust]

12. UBI time.

Universal basic income

Millionaires and billionaires can afford to pay it. Otherwise call the Guillotine Knights Brigade.