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Leaked: Amazon Plans To Cut 600,000 Jobs and Replace Them With Robots

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Joshua Clear
October 24, 2025

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Amazon's $12 Billion Plan to Not Hire 600,000 People

Here's a wild stat: Amazon just hit one million robots in its warehouses. That's almost as many robots as they have human workers in the U.S. (1.2 million). And according to leaked internal documents, that ratio is about to flip hard.

The New York Times got their hands on Amazon's strategy docs, and holy shit—the plan is to automate 75% of U.S. operations by 2033. Translation: Amazon's sales are expected to double, but their workforce stays flat. They're planning to simply not hire over 600,000 people who would otherwise be needed.

The math here is brutal but elegant: 30 cents saved per item processed, $12.6 billion saved between 2025-2027, all by avoiding hiring 160,000 workers in the next couple years alone.

Meet Your Replacement

Amazon's robot army isn't just bigger—it's getting smarter. There's Vulcan, their first robot with tactile sensing that can feel its way around crowded bins without breaking stuff. Digit, a 5'9" humanoid robot that walks on two legs like a person. Proteus, which hauls 800-pound carts around the warehouse floor.

The Shreveport, Louisiana facility is the blueprint: 2,500 humans, 1,000 robots, and it employs 25% fewer people than a traditional warehouse would. Amazon plans to roll this model out to 40 facilities by 2027.

The PR Strategy Is Almost Insulting

The leaked docs reveal Amazon's plan to "control the narrative." They literally discuss avoiding words like "automation" and "AI" in public communications. Instead: use "advanced technology." Don't say "robot"—say "cobot" (collaborative robot) because it sounds friendlier.

They're also planning to boost "community engagement" to become a "good corporate citizen." You know, like participating in parades and Toys for Tots while quietly engineering out hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Amazon's response? Basically "these are just one team's documents, not our actual strategy," while simultaneously pointing out they're hiring 250,000 seasonal workers (note: seasonal, not permanent).

Why This Actually Matters

Daron Acemoglu—the MIT professor who just won the Nobel Prize in Economics for studying exactly this shit—delivered the kill shot: "Once they work out how to do this profitably, it will spread to others, too. One of the biggest employers in the United States will become a net job destroyer, not a net job creator."

And he's right. Walmart's already announced 65% of stores will be "serviced by automation" by 2026. UPS eliminated 43,000 positions through AI. Amazon isn't an outlier—they're the template.

The kicker? Amazon was already facing a labor crisis. A 2021 internal memo warned they'd literally run out of American workers to hire by 2024 given their 159% annual turnover rate. So automation isn't just about efficiency—it's about survival when you've burned through your entire available workforce.

The future of work isn't robots taking every job. It's companies discovering they can grow massively while employing fewer people. Amazon's about to prove it's possible.


The New York Times - Original Investigation

Major News Organizations (Tier 1 Verification)

CNBC

Forbes

CNET

Gizmodo

Engadget

New York Post

TechSpot

Technology-Focused Publications

TechCrunch (Amazon's 1 Million Robots Milestone)

TechCrunch (Digit Robot Testing)

PCMag

Wired (Vulcan Robot)

GeekWire

Business and Financial Publications

Fortune (Shreveport Facility)

Fortune (Wage Increases)

Business Insider (Hiring Curve)

Morning Brew

Entrepreneur

Official Amazon Sources

Amazon Official Announcement (1 Million Robots)

Amazon Official (Vulcan Robot)

Amazon Official (Holiday Hiring)

Amazon Official (Wage Increases)

Amazon Official (MIT Study)

Amazon Official (Shreveport Facility)

Daron Acemoglu (Nobel Prize Winner) Sources

MIT Economics Department

MIT Technology Review

Nobel Prize Official Announcement

Associated Press

Amazon Labor Issues (Context)

Vox (Labor Shortage Warning)

National Employment Law Project (Wage Analysis)

Historical Context

TechCrunch (Kiva Acquisition)

Amazon Official (10 Years of Robotics)

Agility Robotics (Digit Robot)

Agility Robotics Official Announcement

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