It seems Amazon’s ultimate goal is to process twice the number of deliveries with none of the hassle of hiring, training, or paying humans. Internal documents, leaked to the New York Times, suggest the e-commerce giant is seeking a widespread automation push that could see robots replace hundreds of thousands of potential workers.
Amazon, currently the second largest private employer in the US, is reportedly banking on its rapidly growing fleet of mechanical helpers to “flatten” its hiring curve. The plan aims to automate 75% of operations and avoid bringing in over 600,000 workers it would otherwise need by 2033, even as it plans to double its sales volume.
The Staggering Cost-Saving Maths
The documents reveal the financial logic behind this massive shift: saving about 30 pence per item shipped (or 30 cents in the original US figures). Over the short term, this adds up fast:
- Between 2025 and 2027 alone, Amazon plans to forego hiring around 160,000 human staff in the US.
- This calculated reduction in the need for human labour is expected to save the company a staggering $12.6 billion.
The company’s blueprint for this future is already in action at its Shreveport, Louisiana warehouse, which is buzzing with over a thousand robots. Documents suggest this facility employed roughly 25% fewer humans last year than a traditional centre would, and the plan is to roll out this model to 40 more facilities by 2027.
From ‘Job Creator’ to ‘Job Destroyer’?
For years, experts have warned that Amazon had an ulterior motive behind its growing mechanical workforce (which now rivals the number of human staff at over a million). Now, the internal documents appear to confirm those fears.
The Nobel Prize winning economist Daron Acemoglu warned the NYT that if Amazon implements this strategy, it could switch from being a massive job creator to a “net job destroyer.” Given that Amazon sets the trend for the entire logistics and e-commerce sector, this move could trigger a wider rush towards AI and automation among its rivals.
Controlling the Narrative (and the Language)
Unsurprisingly, Amazon is aware that cutting future job creation on this scale is a massive public relations headache. The leaked documents suggest a strategy to soften the public blow:
- Executives were reportedly told to avoid loaded terms like “automation” and “AI.”
- Instead, they were urged to use the more collaborative sounding “advanced technology” or “cobots” (for “collaborative robots”).
However, Amazon has since pushed back, denying that the leaked materials reflect its overall hiring vision. A company spokesperson stated that the documents were incomplete and reflected only one team’s perspective. They maintained that savings from automation are used to create new, often more highly skilled, roles elsewhere.
We will be watching you Amazon with one eye open!
Related Topic: Technology
