The tech landscape is shifting, and you’re witnessing a crossroads in how work will be organised. One path points to bots taking on nearly every task, while the other shows them handling the grunt work, leaving room for humans to embrace creative and value‑added roles. In fact, the World Economic Forum predicts that while 92 million jobs could be displaced, up to 170 million new opportunities might emerge.

Amazon has stepped into this debate with its new robot, Vulcan. Designed for physically demanding tasks in the warehouse, Vulcan isn’t meant to replace people—it’s here to work hand‑in‑hand with skilled teammates. As CEO Andy Jassy explained, the robot helps create a safer environment and opens doors for team members to upgrade their skills in robotics maintenance.

The approach is straightforward. Vulcan retrieves stock from very high or very low shelves, leaving the mid‑range tasks and any tricky items to people. Alongside this, some warehouse workers are being retrained as robot technicians, marking a gradual shift rather than an abrupt overhaul.

This isn’t a simple one‑for‑one job swap. While emerging roles like robotic floor monitors and reliability engineers highlight new opportunities, not every displaced worker will find a direct technical replacement. Yet, as you might have experienced with technology in other areas, knowing how to work with these systems remains a critical skill.

Even as industries such as automotive manufacturing might lead the robotics charge, sectors like retail and hospitality are likely to keep a strong human touch for many years. Amazon’s own experience with its ‘just‑walk‑out’ technology in retail shows that integrating new tech solutions can be complex and may not suit every context.

The unfolding story of work in a bot‑assisted world offers both challenges and promise—a reminder that even in an automated future, human expertise will always matter.