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The reluctance of workers to return to low-skill, low-wage jobs post-COVID is speeding the adoption of robots throughout the economy.
One warehousing company reported hiring 26,000 people to finally staff 13,000 jobs; half the people quit or were fired after the first few days, the Financial Times reported.
“In the 1980s, the main reason for investing in automation was to reduce labor costs,” Dwight Klappich at consulting firm Gartner told the FT.
“Now, for almost half the clients, their primary concern is labor availability,” he said.
Amazon is the poster ad for automation, which it has emphasized for nearly a decade.
Its investment in robots and the technological structure to support them saves the company between $3 billion and $4 billion yearly, according to Marc Wulfraat, founder of logistics company MWPVL International – “and that could be underestimated,” he told the FT.
What’s not for a CEO to like? Robots work around the clock, never take lunch or potty breaks, vacations, or sick days, and never complain or go on strike.
Wincanton, a British warehousing company, has made an investment in robots that has cut its human payroll by as much as 40 percent without reducing the amount of goods the warehouses handle.
Now DHL, the international cargo company, is investing in 7,500 robot projects across 12 separate categories of operations, including teaching robots how to wrap pallets stacked with goods.
It’s all good for robots’ builders and suppliers.
Honeywell, which supplies robotic technology to warehousers and other users, grew revenues in its robotics business by 14 percent to $2 billion in 2020, the FT reported.
TRENDPOST: Automation is claiming jobs from burger flipper to pharmacist assistant. Robot maintenance and repair shops are becoming the new HR departments.
Some businesses are adopting a “cobotic” workforce, in which humans and robots complement each other (“Robots Turn 100 Soon,” 15 August, 2018). However, robots are taking jobs faster than the workers they replace are disappearing.
This strengthens two trends.
One is the embryonic movement to create apprenticeship programs to prep workers with no or outdated skills to qualify for jobs in tech, such as robot repair.
The other is the growing pressure to provide a guaranteed income, especially for people unable to adapt to skilled work. However, this would likely require a massive redistribution of wealth, taking profits from companies making money by replacing workers with bots and giving the money to their displaced ex-employees.
Although growing in popularity, especially among young people, the idea of a guaranteed income still faces years of political opposition.