Robots — once thought to be a killer of e-commerce jobs — may actually be saving them

The Dallas Morning News ^ | November 10, 2017

[2ndDivisionVet]

When the robots came to online retailer Boxed, dread came, too: The familiar fear that the machines would take over, leaving a trail of unemployed humans in their wake.

"I had a lot of people asking me, 'What is going to happen to us?'" says Veronica Mena, a trainer for the e-commerce startup, recalling the anxiety that rippled through her co-workers after company executives announced plans to open an automated warehouse in nearby Union, N. J.

Yet their fears didn't come to pass.

When the new warehouse opened this spring, workers found that their jobs were less physically demanding than at the older, manual warehouse in Edison, N. J. Instead of walking thousands of steps a day loading items onto carts, employees could stand at stations as conveyor belts brought the goods to them.

And rather than cutting jobs, the company added a third shift to keep up with rapidly growing demand.

What happened at Boxed — and has occurred elsewhere — suggests that widespread fears about automation and job loss are often misplaced. Automation has actually helped create jobs in e-commerce, rather than eliminate them, and stands to create more in the years ahead. By accelerating delivery times, robotics and software have made online shopping an increasingly viable alternative to brick-and-mortar stores, and sales have ballooned at online retailers.

The surge in e-commerce has required the rapid build-out of a vast network of warehouses and delivery systems that include both robots and human workers. The robots didn't take jobs from people, because many of the jobs didn't exist before.

"We're not looking to do the same work with half the people," said Rick Zumpano, vice president for distribution at Boxed. "Since we're growing, we need everyone."

Boxed has two other fulfillment centers — in Las Vegas and Flower Mound....

[cba123]

Is this slight of game brought to you by the same people who disassembled the most magnificent manufacturing bare in human history, America, and sent it to the entire world’s largest ever
Communist country, for minority ownership rights in China?

Those people?

[cba123]

Sorry, typed this on a pocket phone. Should have checked my writing better.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Instead of walking thousands of steps a day loading items onto carts, employees could stand at stations as conveyor belts brought the goods to them.

Uh oh. Now those employees are going to pack on the pounds, get very depressed, and will finally have to sue their employer for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

[DaxtonBrown]

So, what they are crowing about is robots allow more e-commerce store and employees, by wiping out brick and mortar.

Likely inevitable. But that doesn’t reduce the impact of robots replacing humans.

[seawolf101]

So where do we build a fence to stop the robot invasion.

[JudgemAll]

AI will replace these workers who are not prepared to the tech world. Women will go out with robots, so to speak, it is called Universal Income, and other people will be paid to die off

[Wuli]

This is not “more jobs”. It is all part of a shifting of work from bricks-and-mortar to “E-commerce” and in that process it is a loss of jobs, as any E-commerce site worth it’s salt does the work that was being done on dozens of bricks-and-mortar locations with far fewer workers. The expansion of the E-commerce site in the report fails to notice the issue of jobs in the larger sense, in which E-commerce is a net destroyer, not a net gainer.

[moovova]

My daughter’s boyfriend builds, installs and tests robotic equipment...and makes darn good money. His comment to me... “The sky is the limit in this field.”.

[SamAdams76]

When the new warehouse opened this spring, workers found that their jobs were less physically demanding than at the older, manual warehouse in Edison, N. J. Instead of walking thousands of steps a day loading items onto carts, employees could stand at stations as conveyor belts brought the goods to them.

I would have loved to keep walking the thousands of steps. So healthy! If you walk 10,000 steps or more each day, your health is virtually assured no matter what you eat or drink.

Standing at a conveyor belt all day seems boring and not so healthy.

That said, I like the robots. Robots are cool. And we are going to be seeing a lot more of them. I look forward to when they are getting rid of the leaves in my yard and aerating the soil. But I won't be missing my steps. No! I will take a dog and hike out into those woods and fields.

Dog and human...healthy. Robot...working.