Post by : Badri Ariffin

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has called out Amazon founder Jeff Bezos over the company’s aggressive automation drive that could cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs. In a strongly worded letter reviewed by Reuters, Sanders demanded answers about the potential fallout from Amazon’s plan to replace human warehouse workers with robots.

Sanders noted that internal Amazon discussions revealed up to 500,000 jobs could be eliminated as automation expands across the company’s vast logistics network. With 1.55 million employees worldwide, most of them hourly blue-collar workers, the move could reshape the future of warehouse labor.

Sanders warned that if Amazon’s automation strategy succeeds, it might become a “blueprint for mass job cuts” across corporate America. “It will have a profound impact on working families,” he wrote, calling on Bezos to explain what support—if any—the company will offer to displaced workers.

The Vermont senator also pressed Bezos on whether Amazon would provide severance pay, continued health coverage, or retraining programs for those affected. He highlighted that many Amazon employees already rely on federal aid for food, housing, and healthcare, despite the company’s multi-billion-dollar revenues and government contracts.

Meanwhile, Amazon has said its automation initiatives are designed to assist workers, not replace them, and to create new roles that require higher skills. But the reassurance came as reports emerged that Amazon plans to cut around 30,000 corporate jobs this week to streamline costs.

Bezos, now executive chairman, no longer oversees daily operations, but his influence over Amazon’s long-term strategy remains significant. Current CEO Andy Jassy has acknowledged that artificial intelligence will reduce parts of the corporate workforce, underscoring the shifting balance between technology and labor at one of the world’s largest employers.

Sanders, a long-time critic of Amazon’s labor practices, has frequently clashed with the company over working conditions, pay, and unionization efforts. His latest letter renews the broader debate on whether automation and AI will empower workers—or erase their livelihoods.

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