Amazon.com Inc. is planning a significant expansion of warehouse automation that could eliminate up to 600,000 human positions over the next decade, according to internal company documents obtained by The New York Times.
The report Monday said the e-commerce giant intends to deploy robots to handle growing demand without proportionally increasing its human workforce, though the documents do not explicitly indicate whether current employees face layoffs.
Amazon strongly pushed back on the report’s conclusions, noting the leaked documents “often paint an incomplete and misleading picture of our plans.”
“In this instance, the materials appear to reflect the perspective of just one team and don’t represent our overall hiring strategy across our various operations business lines — now or moving forward,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson emphasized Amazon’s role as a major jobs creator, noting the company plans to fill 250,000 positions for the upcoming holiday season and is actively hiring operations facilities nationwide. “No company has created more jobs in America over the past decade than Amazon,” the statement said.
Tension between technological advancement and employment security remains a central question for Amazon and the broader logistics industry as artificial intelligence (AI) agents and physical AI in the form of robots expand, forcing companies and policymakers to balance operational efficiency with workforce stability. For now, Amazon maintains that its new technologies are intended to complement human workers rather than replace them, emphasizing improved safety, reduced physical strain, and expanded career development opportunities.
But its long-range ambitions mirror a growing trend among CEOs like NVIDIA Corp.’s Jensen Huang and Saleforce Inc.’s Marc Benioff who have openly boasted about the ability of enterprises to deploy millions of AI agents and bots to do menial tasks.
To that end, Amazon has introduced two new technologies designed to transform warehouse operations: Blue Jay, a multi-armed robotic system, and Project Eluna, an autonomous AI platform, would not only enhance productivity but improve workplace safety side-by-side with human employees.
The Blue Jay system consolidates three separate robotic stations into a single workspace capable of picking, stowing, and consolidating inventory simultaneously. Developed from concept to production in just over a year, the technology leverages advances in AI and digital twin modeling.
Project Eluna, meanwhile, represents Amazon’s foray into agentic AI. Designed to function as a virtual teammate for operations managers, the platform analyzes historical and real-time data to anticipate bottlenecks and recommend solutions.
The system addresses a key challenge facing warehouse managers, who must simultaneously monitor numerous dashboards while responding to equipment failures, reallocating resources, and making time-sensitive decisions. Amazon says Project Eluna will reduce cognitive load and help maintain smooth operations.
In a separate development, Amazon unveiled Amelia, a prototype of AI-enabled smart glasses for delivery drivers. The device features an integrated camera and display, paired with a waistcoat equipped with buttons for photographing deliveries.
According to the Times report, the leaked documents reveal deliberate language aimed at softening public perception of automation initiatives. In place of terms such as “automation,” “AI,” and “robot,” Amazon favors “advanced technology” and “cobot.”
Additionally, the documents discuss Amazon’s efforts to position itself as a “good corporate citizen” in communities potentially affected by job displacement, including increased participation in local parades and charitable initiatives such as Toys for Tots.
The projected job displacement figure carries significant weight given Amazon’s position as the third-largest employer in the U.S., behind only the federal government and Walmart Inc. The company currently employs approximately 1.5 million workers, predominantly in warehouse and delivery operations. A reduction of 600,000 positions would be comparable to the entire workforce of FedEx Corp., which employs roughly 550,000 people.
Amazon has incorporated robotics into warehouse operations for more than a decade, and the technology’s impact on employment has been well-documented. Research from 2020 found that each robot deployed per 1,000 workers correlates with a 0.42% wage reduction and has contributed to an estimated 400,000 job losses across the U.S. economy.
