Amazon moves to replace over 600,000 warehouse jobs with robots
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — Amazon is planning a fundamental transformation of its operations by replacing hundreds of thousands of human jobs with robotic automation.
According to interviews and internal company documents obtained by The New York Times, executives believe this technological shift will allow them to avoid hiring over 600,000 people in the coming years, fundamentally altering their role as a mass employer and setting a potential template for the entire logistics industry.
“For years and years, they were really investing for growth, and in the last three years the company’s focus has shifted to efficiencies,” said Justin Post, a Wall Street analyst at Bank of America.
Amazon’s hiring slowdown strategy
According to internal documents, the company’s automation team can save it from hiring over 160,000 employees in the United States by 2027.
This method will save approximately 30 cents per item picked, packed, and shipped by Amazon, which is a major operation and cost-saving efficiency.
Executives formalized this ambition in a presentation to Amazon’s board last year, stating their goal was to continue avoiding additions to its U.S. workforce even as they expect to sell twice as many products by 2033. This long-term strategy would mean the company would not need to hire more than 600,000 people.
The robotics team wrote in its strategy plan for 2025 that, “With this major milestone now in sight, we are confident in our ability to flatten Amazon’s hiring curve over the next 10 years,” signaling a permanent shift in labor dynamics.
Robotic warehouse as a replicable model
Amazon is actively creating and deploying a new template for its fulfillment centers, designed from the ground up to minimize human labor. The company opened its advanced warehouse in Shreveport, Louisiana, as a prototype for this future.
This facility employs 1,000 robots, allowing it to operate with a quarter fewer workers last year than it would have without automation, with projections suggesting it will eventually need about half as many.
This model is now being systematically replicated across the country. Amazon plans to copy the Shreveport design in about 40 facilities by the end of 2027 and is also retrofitting existing warehouses.
An internal analysis of a Stone Mountain, Georgia, facility—which currently employs roughly 4,000 workers—projects that, after a robotic overhaul, it will process 10% more items while requiring up to 1,200 fewer employees.
“With this major milestone now in sight, we are confident in our ability to flatten Amazon’s hiring curve over the next 10 years,” the robotics team notes, highlighting the company’s move to a widespread, systematic replacement of human roles with automated systems.
Managing community and reputational risks
As Amazon anticipates significant job losses from its automation, internal documents show the company is developing plans to manage public perception and mitigate community backlash.
The company has considered building an image as a “good corporate citizen” by increasing its participation in local events such as parades and Toys for Tots drives in affected areas. This suggests a proactive effort to soften the blow of reduced local employment opportunities.
Internally, there is a conscious effort to control the narrative around this transition. Documents reveal strategies to avoid using terms like “automation” and “A.I.” when discussing robotics, opting instead for more benign phrases like “advanced technology” or “cobot” to imply collaboration with humans.
In Georgia, employees working on the transition have strategized ways to focus on new technician jobs and “innovation to give local officials a sense of pride,” aiming to redirect the conversation away from job loss.
This shift towards using machines for efficiency shows a permanent change in the workforce, where increasing productivity is prioritized over creating new jobs.
