Warehouses Look to Robots to Fill Labor Gaps, Speed Deliveries

Wall Street Journal ^ | May 24, 2021 | Jennifer Smith

[BeauBo]

The robots are coming to labor-strapped North American warehouses.

Growing numbers of self-driving machines are shuttling clothing and sports equipment down warehouse aisles, pulling bins of groceries, cosmetics and industrial parts from high stacks and handing off goods to human workers to help deliver orders faster...

The push toward automation comes as businesses say they can’t hire warehouse workers fast enough to meet surging online demand for everything from furniture to frozen food in pandemic-disrupted supply chains. The crunch is accelerating the adoption of robots and other technology in a sector that still largely relies on workers pulling carts...

“This is not about taking over your job, it’s about taking care of those jobs we can’t fill,” ...

Logistics-automation companies say demand for their technology has grown during the pandemic as companies look for ways to cope with big swings in volume when workers are scarce and social distancing requirements limit building occupancy.

“Robots are beginning to fill that void,” said Dwight Klappich, a supply-chain research vice president at Gartner Inc. The technology-research firm forecasts that demand for robotic systems that deliver goods to human workers will quadruple through 2023...

“The driver here is not to reduce costs, but simply to serve the customer’s needs. They simply cannot hire.”...

Users say mobile robots and other logistics technology can also boost output and efficiency, helping businesses handle sudden spikes in demand without investing millions of dollars in fixed infrastructure.

XPO Logistics Inc. said its use of robots in warehousing operations increased efficiency by as much as six times in some cases...

[Starcitizen]

That sizable minority is about 33% of the workforce due to outsourcing of middle class blue and white collar jobs overseas, and bringing in foreigners to replace Americans in lower and middle class blue and white collar jobs.

So the bottom 33% of employees are not dependable in your book.

It’s not just the homeless encampments or poor neighborhoods

Stop outsourcing and stop illegal and legal immigration. Deport all foreign work visa holders.

With this foreign labor force, there has been a stagnation and decline of wages since the 1990s.

Then we can talk about the other stuff. But it seems, like most Freepers, it’s tough titty Americans can’t compete with foreign labor who will work for 1/4 to 1/2 of American wages.

You all are so tied up with illegal immigration, that you don’t see that legal immigration from mainly India, Communist China or Mexico is absolutely destroying the American middle class

[Clemenza]

1) I mentioned legal immigration in my original post.

2) Why do millions of Americans stay on the dole as of TODAY when businesses around the country are starved for labor? Are you aware btw, that wages in this country have historically not been high for the unskilled, let alone the unmotivated?

The “victim” mentality is awful whether coming from the socialist left or the “populist” right.

[Starcitizen]

Those millions of Americans refuse to work menial labor part-time jobs that mainly fast-food and restaurants are offering. That and truck driving. You can read back to see how low training wages are with the mega carriers . $5.71 an hour for the first 2 months.

And it’s these jobs that are highlighted in almost every news article.

Amazon is another. Those jobs at fulfillment centers are absolutely brutal for anyone coming from the still not opened services sector or white-collar work.

Millions of unemployed Americans still haven’t been called back since the lockdowns. Mainly in the live events, travel and tourism industries.

Oh that’s right, 10 years doing live sound or lighting makes great fry cooks at McDonald’s

Hell, if I wasn’t employed I would take one of those McJobs just to get injured on the job and sue their asses. the last time I was forced to work in a blue-collar job, got injured and got a lovely settlement from Kroger.

[Starcitizen]

The “unskilled” also mean the 5 million underemployed and unemployed highly skilled STEM workers, who were replaced by Indian H1B scumbags.

I know, McJobs for all Americans instead of sending these scumbag foreigners home.

Trump tried, and a few federal judges stopped him.

Biden/ Harris promised to open the Indian worker floodgates once elected. And it’s happened.

So qualified Americans should be stuck doing menial labor?