JD.com chair says robots will replace its 700,000 delivery workers

In short: A top Chinese online retail boss said delivery robots will eventually take over work now done by hundreds of thousands of couriers.

What's going on

Richard Liu, founder and chair of JD.com, warned that the company’s 700,000 delivery workers will be replaced by robots “sooner or later.” He spoke at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO forum in Shenzhen.

Liu said JD.com has signed contracts with about 120 schools to retrain couriers for other jobs. One example he gave was repairing and maintaining robots. He compared this to regular machinery, which needs fixing because parts can fail.

China is already testing robot delivery in small pilot projects. Reports cited examples in Shenzhen, including robots delivering food at an airport and robots that can ride commuter trains to restock convenience stores.

The comments highlight a broader worry in China about jobs, especially for gig workers. Gig workers are people doing temporary, often physical jobs such as deliveries, ride-hailing, and factory work. A research group estimated China will have about 320 million gig workers this year, up from 200 million five years ago, and they make up about 40 percent of urban employment.

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Liu did not say when robot deliveries will become common, so the timeline is unclear. Still, China’s government has been pushing robotics in its next five-year plan, while also looking at ways to expand social insurance for gig workers. With youth unemployment reported at 16.3 percent in April, policymakers may face growing pressure to show how workers can move from courier jobs to new roles as automation spreads.

Source: Financial Times