Overview
- Internal documents reported by The New York Times outline a plan to automate roughly three-quarters of operations and avoid hiring about 160,000 U.S. roles by 2027.
- The materials estimate savings of about $0.30 per item and roughly $12.6 billion from 2025 to 2027 if the milestones are achieved.
- Executives reportedly told Amazon’s board that automation could keep U.S. headcount steady even as sales are projected to double by 2033, implying more than 600,000 hires avoided.
- Amazon says the leak reflects one team’s perspective, denies directing executives to soften language or tie community efforts to automation, and highlights a plan to hire around 250,000 seasonal workers.
- The company already operates about one million robots and is rolling out its Shreveport-style robotic fulfillment centers to roughly 40 sites by 2027, a push experts warn could influence broader industry adoption.