As Amazon pushes forward with robots, workers find new roles

© Jonathan Weiss

This piece from The New York Times provides some insight into the working life of an Amazon employee as the e-commerce giant continues its push towards full automation. Surprisingly, perhaps, the introduction of Amazon’s latest line of robots at its facility in New Jersey did not result in layoffs but rather a bout of retraining. As Dave Clerk, the executive in charge of operations, says, “the people didn’t go anywhere”. And it seems these employees are fond of their new positions, with one noting the robots had taken the strain away from work. But one question lingers: what happens when the robots take complete control? For now, that is unanswered, and Mr Clerk claims the company’s mass recruitment policy will continue – since robots have been added to its facility, more than 80,000 additional pairs of hands have been hired.