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Amazon robot use increases by 50 percent

by on05 January 2017


Metropolis becomes current affairs

In the last five years, the robot workforce at Amazon has increased from zero to 45,000 and most of that was during 2016.

E-commerce and cloud giant Amazon has revealed that it now has 45,000 robots across 20 fulfilment centres around the world.

This is a 50 percent increase on the same time last year, when the company said that it employed 30,000 robots alongside its 306,000 people.

Robots are used to automate the picking and packing process at large warehouses. They are 16in tall and weigh 145kg, travel at five miles per hour and can carry packages that weigh 317kg.

Most of the robots joined when Amazon acquired Kiva Systems in 2012 for $775 million. The best part about the robots is that they do not strike for better conditions, like Amazon's German workers, nor do they create PR scandals by camping outside the plant because their pay is so low, like some of the British workers.

The Seattle Times said that although the robot growth is huge, it mirrors the growth of Amazon’s human workforce which also grew by about the same size last year.

Last modified on 05 January 2017
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