Is Liu Qiangdong’s prediction coming true? Delivery workers face job loss as robots take over!
Have you heard? Liu Qiangdong from JD.com made a bold statement at the Internet Conference a few days ago. He mentioned that by April next year, JD.com will establish the world’s first fully unmanned delivery station. Drones will fly in the sky, unmanned vehicles will run on the ground, and even the loading and unloading of goods will be handled by robotic arms.
This is quite remarkable; will the delivery workers we see every day lose their jobs?
Liu Qiangdong made an even more interesting point, stating that in the future, employees may only need to work one day a week or even just one hour. This sounds like a dream, but he is serious. He no longer wants delivery workers to endure the elements; robots will take care of the heavy and laborious tasks.
JD.com has a sorting center where 90% of manual labor has already been replaced by robots. Just imagine, these robots work 24 hours a day without rest, do not complain about fatigue, and do not demand overtime pay.
Liu Qiangdong returned to the Wuzhen Internet Conference after eight years. Although he has been low-key during these years, he made a significant impact with this announcement, shocking the entire audience.
Some say this is a sign of capitalists planning to cut jobs, but Liu Qiangdong disagrees. He believes that robots can liberate people from heavy physical labor. This way, we can work less and spend more time with our families.
JD Logistics plans to purchase 3 million robots, 1 million unmanned vehicles, and 100,000 drones in the next five years. This investment is more generous than buying a cabbage.
Unmanned trucks have already been tested for hundreds of thousands of kilometers internally. The unmanned vehicle tests for solving the last-mile problem have run for millions of kilometers. These metal machines can endure more than humans.
Liu Qiangdong also requested that R&D personnel design drones and unmanned vehicles to be modular. This way, delivery workers can easily transition to equipment monitoring and maintenance after simple training.
This essentially turns delivery workers into machine repair technicians, which sounds quite reasonable.
Liu Qiangdong recalled that 18 years ago, JD.com entered the logistics sector because logistics costs in China were too high. Back in 2006, the proportion of socialized logistics costs in China accounted for over 18% of GDP.
In contrast, Western countries only have 6% to 8%, and Japan is even below 6%. A product has to be handled more than seven times from the factory to the consumer.
JD.com’s solution was to place products as close to consumers as possible. They now have over 3,600 warehouses across the country.
Liu Qiangdong predicts that within five years, the proportion of socialized logistics costs in China will drop to below 10% of GDP. This is great news, as companies could save trillions in profits.
With this money saved, perhaps we could see a salary increase? Of course, that’s just a hopeful wish.
Some say robots are taking away jobs, but others see it as progress. Just like when cars replaced horse-drawn carriages, there will always be those who struggle to adapt.
My neighbor, Old Wang, who delivers for JD.com, is not worried at all after hearing this news. He said he can finish work early to go dance in the square, and his salary will still be paid.
However, Old Li disagrees; his son drives for a logistics company. If unmanned trucks hit the road, wouldn’t his son lose his job? This is indeed a real concern.
Liu Qiangdong received a lot of applause and laughter during his speech. Perhaps everyone thinks that working just one hour a week is too far-fetched, yet they can’t help but yearn for it.
In fact, although Liu Qiangdong has not been in the spotlight much in recent years, he has been busy with significant matters. He attended the Davos Forum in June and participated in the China-Europe Entrepreneurs’ Symposium in July.
At the end of October, he even went to South Korea with his wife, Zhang Zetian, to attend the APEC summit. This couple made headlines as soon as they appeared.
Technological development is like this; whether we accept it or not, it is advancing. Just like how mobile phones replaced pagers, no one feels sorry for that.
Liu Qiangdong stated that once high-density solid-state batteries can be mass-produced, the robotics industry will experience a new wave of rapid growth. This may happen faster than we think.
What will we middle-aged and elderly people do then? Learning to use smartphones is already challenging enough; do we really have to learn to repair robots?
Perhaps, as Liu Qiangdong said, many new professions will emerge in the future. The tourism market may grow tenfold, requiring more tour guides and service personnel.
Just think about it; if machines do all the work, we will have time to travel and enjoy life. That sounds like a nice future.
However, on the flip side, no matter how capable robots are, they still need people to design and maintain them. Young people need to learn more new technologies to keep up with the times.
We older folks may not enjoy the benefits of working just one hour a week. But perhaps our children and grandchildren will truly live such a good life.
Will Liu Qiangdong’s prediction come true? We shall see. At least he is currently working towards that direction.
Technology changes lives, and this is undoubtedly true. From manual hoes to autonomous driving, humanity is always finding ways to make life easier.
As long as robots don’t become smart enough to rule over humanity, we can enjoy this convenience with peace of mind.