Amazon's giant robot-staffed supermarkets may only employ three humans per store

A lot of experts think that robots taking our jobs will be a real issue in the future.

It sounds like something that will only trouble us many decades from now, when we’re living in some Terminator-style sci-fi dystopia - but it could happen a lot sooner than we think.

Last year, Amazon showcased their ‘Amazon Go’ supermarket, which didn’t use money or checkouts.

The high tech store connects with an app on your phone, so you can just pick things up, put them in your bag and walk out – and they're automatically charged to your Amazon account.

It is currently only available for Apple employees, but is set to open to the public later this year.

But without the need for checkout staff, shops like this could lead to a lot of people currently employed in retail no longer having a job.

The first Amazon Go store in Seattle currently only requires six staff.

Picture: Amazon

But a report by New York Post suggest that future giant two-storey, 40,000 square foot supermarkets could need just three human workers in total.

Robots would handle most of the work, fetching stock and bagging groceries.

The Food Marketing Institute estimates that in 2015, the supermarket industry employed 3.4 million workers in America alone – so this could irrevocably alter or even destroy the jobs of people worldwide.

A source told the NY Post:

Amazon will utilise technology to minimise labour

HT: The Sun

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