Amazon Boots Up The Bots
That’s right, Amazon has gone full Skynet on us by looking to roll out a hoard of packing robots to replace almost 1,300 manual workers…This is how it starts.
The robots don’t come cheap either. At a whopping million Dollars a pop, these robots are a serious investment for the retail giant, but what makes them so much better than people? Speed, that’s what.
The bots are capable of packing over 600 boxes per hour, which is roughly 4-5 times as many as their human counterparts. which will make them cost effective in just two years once the full rollout is complete. That’s pretty fast!
While this is a great step forward for the company in terms of efficiency, it must be careful not to lose its reputation as a generous employer welcomed by towns across the US. Too much automation could inhibit the company’s expansionary plans as towns clamp down to stop the giant from crushing local business and employment opportunities.
Amazon has said, however, that it doesn’t plan to fire any existing workers, but rather not hire any new ones while it transitions them into other jobs over time. Amazon’s spokeswoman said that the “new efficiency savings will be re-invested in new services for customers, where new jobs will continue to be created”.
While this may not be ideal for employment opportunities, it represents a strong move forward for Amazon which will likely generate far better profit margins for the mega-firm. It’s just another step towards world domination for Amazon.
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