Bonney Lake Walmart's robot zips along in tech revolution that's raising big questions for workers

[Sherman A1]

BONNEY LAKE, Pierce County — When an autonomous floor scrubber was rolled out in Walmart’s Bonney Lake store last month, shoppers mistook the teal blue scrubber zipping down the aisles for a runaway machine, said manager David Klein. “Some customers are a little freaked out.”

Klein said the Auto-C robot has relieved his employees of several hours of cleaning every evening, and has allowed him to avoid hiring another maintenance worker on the previously understaffed team. The 4-foot-tall scrubber, which resembles a riding lawn mower but is considerably quieter, uses sensors to scan its environment and to avoid people or objects in its way.

The San Diego-based tech company that makes the Auto-C robot, called Brain Corp, also provides the software that powers autonomous floor cleaners at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

At Walmart, the automated machines are just part of a push to bring this pioneer of big-box discounting into the future of brick-and-mortar retail, with implications for its workforce that are still unknown.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/walmarts-push-for-advanced-technology-has-workers-asking-how-theyll-coexist-with-robots/?

[lpbk2713]

1. I hope the robots are sensitive enough to see a small child.

If there's an accident Wally World would be in deep shit.

[Sherman A1]

7. I was in a grocery store a couple of weeks ago and damn near was clobbered by their

shelf checking robot. If it would have hit me, it would have been in pieces out back in a shopping cart.

[MineralMan]

2. Hmm...that sort of thing seems inevitable to me.

Roombas are very popular in people's homes, too. I don't want one, but lots of people seem to. Will this machine take someone's job? Maybe, or maybe not. I don't know, actually.

[maxsolomon]

5. you enjoy vacuuming?

other than cleaning long hair out of the brushes, they're fantastic. 2x/week, while we're at work, and the debris tray is always full when we get home. it cleans under beds.

fuck vacuuming; bring on the robots.

[MineralMan]

6. I don't mind it that much.

I do it once a week. Takes me about half an hour.

[lagomorph777]

8. I do it a couple times a year and complain about it all day.

But I never found a Roomba to be all that helpful in my cluttered house.

[PoliticAverse]

3. I'll be quite happy when they're stocking shelves at hardware stores.

(And unloading the truck at 6:30 in the morning).

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. I doubt the United Food and Commercial Workers (AFL-CIO) will care for that...

...but I think it's inevitable

[TheFarseer]

9. All I can think of

I want to take a run at that and just blow it up like I’m cow tipping.

[jmowreader]

10. I worked in retail for longer than I want to admit...

A retail store is staffed by "buying employees." Which is a crude way of putting it, but follow along: Sales determines staffing. If corporate comes in and says, "an employee costs $25,000 per week in sales" and your store generates a million a week in sales, you can hire forty employees.

Well sir, if forty employees is all I'm gonna get, I don't want them scrubbing the floor! I want them stocking shelves and helping customers.

Big IF here: IF the employees who were working in building maintenance are moved to customer-facing positions, I'm all for these robots. If they're terminated as excess baggage, the robots are no good.

[Sherman A1]

11. Worked Retail Grocery for 4+ decades

And I fully understand your thinking. That said during that time I saw numerous automated systems come along that directly cut hours and I believe these will do so as well. Some will be shifted, but most will be lost.

[pecosbob]

12. The articles claims the business' 'team' was 'understaffed'

Why is that? Did Walmart suddenly become unprofitable? Sounds like the company's shareholders and execs are too cheap to hire enough workers to actually clean the store properly. Billions in profits and they can't afford a freaking janitor's salary? Another illustration of capitalism run amok.

[Amishman]

13. Some see a floor scrubber, I see incontrovertible proof of the need for UBI

Automation is going to wipe out menial low skill jobs, we need to be ready to retrain this who can do other things and support those who can't

[Sherman A1]

14. I completely agree

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

[area51]

15. Agreed: proof of the need for UBI. n/t