Amazon is ramping up recruitment ahead of Black Friday and the busy holiday shopping season in Australia -- but that annual hiring spree may soon become a thing of the past if the company's automation ambitions take hold.
According to sources, Amazon is seeking to replace thousands of warehouse workers with robots and automated systems, a move that could dramatically reshape its global workforce.
In the United States alone, as many as half a million jobs are reportedly at risk.
The e-commerce giant is expanding rapidly in Australia, moving into new retail categories and expecting to double its product range by 2033, according to The New York Times. To support that growth, Amazon executives believe that investing in robotics will help the company meet soaring demand without hiring an additional 600,000 human workers.
Internal documents cited by the NYT reveal that Amazon's robotics division ultimately aims to automate 75 percent of its operations. If successful, the company could avoid making 160,000 new hires by 2027 -- saving an estimated 30 cents on every package packed and delivered in the U.S. Amazon recently marked a milestone with the deployment of its one millionth robot, part of a fleet it has expanded since introducing its first fully autonomous mobile robot in 2022.
Even as the company builds new warehouses designed to operate with minimal human staff, Amazon is reportedly preparing for community backlash by participating in local initiatives to bolster its image as a "good corporate citizen." The documents also suggest executives are advised to avoid using loaded terms such as "automation" and "AI," opting instead for softer language like "advanced technology" or "cobots" -- short for "collaborative robots."
In response to the NYT report, Amazon said the documents referenced were incomplete and did not reflect its broader hiring strategy.