Walmart, the largest private employer in the US, on Tuesday unveiled plans to automate much of its stores and warehouses within a period of about three years.
The move aligns with the wave of artificial intelligence technologies introduced into the economy to improve efficiency and displace millions of jobs. ,
In a press release, the giant retailer with more than 1.6 million employees in the US said:
“Until the end of fiscal year 2026,Walmart believes that about 65% of the stores it owns will move to services through automation, about 55%The volume of the fulfillment centers will also go through automatic facilities, and the average costs per unit may improve by about 20%.”
As Walmart’s stores and warehouses move to automation, the demand for human labor in the company will decrease.
However, the retailer stated that the reduction of the workforce may lead to an increase in the wages of remaining employees.
“In fact – as the changes are implemented throughout the business, one of the results is rolesrequiring less physical workbut that they have a higher wage rate”.
Walmart did not provide further details on potential workforce reductions through 2026 due to automation.
Meanwhile, Jan Hatsius of Goldman Sachs told the bank’s clients that “about two-thirds of current jobs (in the US and Europe) are exposed to some degree of artificial intelligence automation, and that generative artificial intelligence can replace up to a quarter of current work.”
He added that “an extrapolation of our estimates around the world indicates that generative artificial intelligence could expose 300 million full jobs to automation,” since up to “two-thirds of occupations can be partially automated by AI.”
Translation: a third of a billion layoffs (at least) in the US and Europe (you can read the GS report here)
Think of it as the robotization of the service sector. ,
What is troubling is that the largest employer in the US is moving at full speed to automate its business along with the second largest employer, Amazon.
There is no doubt that a wave of layoffs is upon us, but where is the tipping point where mass layoffs translate into an abundance of angry people?
We suspect that the government will implement a universal basic income to prevent future fired masses from gathering in the streets. ,