Amazon: Internal target to cut 600,000 jobs through AI and robotics revealed

The ongoing technological transformation in the logistics industry is forcing many companies to realign their human resource strategies. According to extensive research by the New York Times, Amazon plans to limit staff growth in the coming years. Although the e-commerce company expects its sales volume to double by 2033, its strategic goal is to replace more than 600,000 jobs in the USA through the use of advanced technology and automation.

Fulfillment centers will be the primary focus of this automation, wherein Amazon aims to automate 75% of its entire operational processes. Such a comprehensive digital transformation promises massive efficiency gains and significant cost savings, with internal analyses estimating the savings at approximately $14 billion between 2025 and 2027, which means about $0.35 less in fulfillment costs per item delivered.

Shreveport as a prototype for substitution

Amazon's plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, will serve as a prototype for the automated future. Known as the Shreveport model, the warehouse there already has a thousand robots in operation, with the site already operating with 25% fewer employees than comparable, non-automated facilities. The planned introduction of additional cobots (collaborative robots) is expected to further reduce the workforce required, effectively amounting to further reductions in personnel.

Amazon plans to roll out the Shreveport design to around 40 additional logistics hubs by the end of 2027. Even existing facilities that are only a few years old, such in Stone Mountain, Georgia, are being converted to the new robotics layout. An internal scenario analysis for Stone Mountain shows that the facility will require up to 1,200 fewer workers following the conversion. The company plans to achieve the reduction primarily through natural attrition, which amounts to a hiring freeze for ordinary warehouse workers. The remaining jobs will be transformed into higher-skilled technical jobs, such as in mechatronics, but the total number of workers required is expected to fall dramatically.

Critical assessment and public communication

Job substitution by AI on this scale is naturally resulting in widespread debate. Amazon has responded by portraying the documents as incomplete and emphasizing the creation of new, more demanding roles. At the same time, the leaked documents reveal a targeted PR strategy, namely avoiding the direct terms "automation" and "AI" in favor of "advanced technology", which is intended to influence public perception.

Economics expert Daron Acemoglu (MIT) predicts that the company, once considered one of the biggest job creators, will become a net job destroyer if the plans are fully implemented.