Majority Of Walmart Stores Will Be Automated Within The Next Three Years

Due to persistent supply chain worker shortages, Walmart announced on Tuesday that 65% of its stores will introduce automation within the next three years. The company revealed, in a press release, that it will invest in logistics innovations that combine the use of humans and technology to improve efficiency. As more automated facilities come online, 55% of Walmart’s fulfillment center volume will be processed using automated solutions, which could result in a 20% increase in unit cost averages. Walmart is one of the largest private sector employers in the United States with over 1.6 million associates.

New technologies will create roles requiring less physical labor but with higher hourly rates of pay than before, and the total number of employees will be maintained or increased, according to the company. In Walmart CEO Doug McMillon’s words, the company is “a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer” that prioritizes opportunity, belonging, purpose, values, and culture for its associates.

With over 9.9 million job openings and 5.9 million unemployed individuals across the economy, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, labor shortages are a challenge faced by public and private enterprises seeking additional workers. Walmart, along with Amazon, implemented wage increases this year to cope with the issue. Chipotle and McDonald’s are among the service companies turning to automation to manage labor shortages, with the former introducing a robotic chip maker and the latter testing a restaurant in Texas using kiosks and a mobile app.

The recent widespread adoption of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language processing tool that can complete tasks in seconds, has expanded the conversations on technological unemployment to white-collar professionals. According to a report by Goldman Sachs, artificial intelligence could replace up to 7% of jobs in the United States.