tech
JD.com robots will replace its 700,000 couriers
JD.com robots will eventually replace the company’s 700,000 couriers, its founder says. It is a rare admission that automation is coming for blue-collar jobs.
TL;DR
- JD.com founder Richard Liu predicts robots will eventually replace the company's 700,000 couriers.
- The company has launched an internal program called Nirvana to retrain couriers for new roles.
- JD.com is partnering with about 120 schools in China to offer retraining in skills like robot maintenance.
- New roles for former couriers include robot maintenance engineers and AI trainers.
- Liu has pledged that JD will not fire any front-line workers replaced by machines, relying on retraining.
- JD.com already operates automated logistics, including unmanned warehouses, drone delivery, and self-driving vans.
- The comments come amid concerns in China about automation's impact on vulnerable workers and rising youth unemployment.
- The core question for JD's couriers is whether retraining will be completed before robots render their current jobs obsolete.