Η Amazon is likely to run out of candidate workers for its US warehouses by 2024, according to an internal memo leaked to Recode.
In it there was an internal survey from 2021 that predicted an impending labor crisis at Amazon that would hit some regions faster than others. For example, it estimated that it would exhaust its labor supply in Phoenix, Arizona by the end of 2021 and in California by the end of 2022. Available workers were calculated using factors such as income levels and proximity to Amazon's existing and future facilities.
Proposed preventive measures include raising wages to retain its existing workforce and attract more new recruits. The report also suggested increasing automation in warehouses. "If we continue business as usual, Amazon will exhaust the available supply of labor in its U.S. network by 2024," the authors wrote.
Automation is something Amazon has already invested in by acquiring Kiva Systems in 2012. According to a Wired investigation, however, Amazon's warehouse robots are unable to handle advanced fulfillment tasks that can only be performed by a human worker, according to a Wired investigation.
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