Amazon sees warehouse robots flatten his job curve: document

When Amazon unveiled its new Vulcan tackle detection robot last week, it developed technology as a way to make front and easier front -line jobs.

What the company has not mentioned is a broader ambition: using Vulcan and its expanding fleet of warehouse robots to reduce its need to hire much more human work.

An internal document obtained by Business Insider reveals Amazon’s long -term vision of the automation of many warehouse tasks. The document, dated from the end of last year, said that Vulcan and similar robots are “essential for the flattening of Amazon’s job curve over the next ten years” while the company built “the most advanced execution network in the world”.

This suggests that Amazon is trying to use automation to slow down the rate of new hires in the future, rather than replacing existing workers. According to familiar sources with the question, the automation thrust is also a response to increasing costs and possible shortages of labor in Amazon warehouses. These people, who occupy management positions in the company, asked not to be identified because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

The document, marked “Amazon Confidential”, was produced by the Amazon retail team to examine various important projects. He also described several AI initiatives designed to further optimize the effectiveness of warehouses and employee productivity.

“Higher value tasks”

The company still plans to “have a lot of people for a long time,” said a spokesperson from Amazon to Bi, while noting that many future roles will involve “higher value tasks”.

“Our robotic solutions are designed to automate tasks in order to continue to improve safety, reduce rehearsal and release our employees to deliver customers more qualified,” added the spokesperson. “Since the introduction of robots in Amazon operations, we have continued to hire hundreds of thousands of employees to work in our facilities and create many new categories of jobs worldwide, including positions such as flow control specialists, floor monitors and reliability maintenance engineers.”

The spokesperson also warned of conclusions drawing conclusions from a specific internal company document.

A leader in automation

Amazon has been a leader in warehouse automation for years, having acquired KIVA systems in 2012 for around $ 775 million. The company has constantly rationalized its operations thanks to technology, integrating more than 750,000 robots to work with more than a million front line employees to store, choose, pack and send goods.

For about a decade, Amazon’s workforce increased massively, even if it adopted automation. However, this has been reversed in recent years.

After doubled its workforce at 1.6 million between 2019 and 2021, Amazon’s workforce fell to 1.55 million last year.

Humans working alongside robots

Amazon presented Vulcan last week as its first touchscreen robot, capable of detecting and adjusting the force necessary to choose products from crowds crowded and high baskets, improving safety and speed.

According to the internal document obtained by Bi, the Amazon robotics team works on at least two AI models which will be constitutive elements for new applications which “will considerably improve the efficiency and responsiveness of our robotic systems”. The company also works on a new model of AI called “Tetris” aimed to reduce the variable costs of labor and transport, according to the document.

In the document, Aaron Parness, director of sciences applied at Amazon Robotics, emphasized the role of robots in improving efficiency and security, ultimately enabling the company to fulfill more orders and deliver more shipments.

“We have always considered a solution which is robots and humans who work side by side,” wrote Parness. “And we think that the sum of the two together is better than the only parts.”

He added that automation helps Amazon to keep front -line employees in a competitive labor market by improving the work environment and offering new technical career paths in maintenance and operations.

“You must be competitive for workers,” said Parness. “So that people want to work and stay at Amazon.”

A potential solution for labor shortages

Some Amazon employees have told Bi that machines such as Vulcan are designed not only to improve productivity but also to help fill a difference in growing labor.

An employee said that the company had set aggressive objectives to automate a large part of the warehouse workload over the next decade to reduce costs. Amazon is also doing in -depth research on how to strengthen current workforce to bring them into jobs related to maintenance, said this person.

With Amazon’s continuous growth, finding enough workers has become increasingly difficult, said another Amazon to BI. If the company does not authorize more, it will find it difficult to meet the demand, this person added. These employees asked not to be identified by discussing internal issues.

An opportunity of $ 10 billion

Vulcan is one of the many new systems that Amazon has introduced in recent years, including robotic weapons such as Robin and Sparrow that sort orders, and mobile units like Proteus which carry packages through warehouses.

Amazon’s automation strategy could save up to $ 10 billion per year if 30% to 40% of American orders are completed through new generation facilities by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley Estimations.

“We are expecting that Amazon continues to expand its warehouse network (to support growth) while improving the imprint towards new generation robotics in new constructions and renovations,” analysts of Morgan Stanley wrote in a research note earlier this year.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has reaffirmed the company’s commitment to automation during a February call for results, saying that its investments in robotics aimed to stimulate security, productivity and profitability.

“We have already experienced a substantial value of our innovations in robotics,” said Jassy.

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