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Foxconn to replace 60,000 workers with robots

This week, news broke that Foxconn would be shedding 60,000 jobs and replacing those factory workers with robots. Foxconn is known for having a hand in the making ofΒ devices like the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy and this week, it confirmed that its employee count would shrink from 110,000 down to 50,000.

This is a huge reduction in labour costs for Foxconn and apparently other companies will follow suit. However, more interestingly, according to a report from The Inquirer, Google may have had a part in this move, after the two companies joined forces in 2014 to develop robots to replace human workers.

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It isn't entirely clear which jobs the robots are replacing but this still represents a huge shift to an electronic workforce. The introduction of robots into factories is a trend that will likely continue. We have already heard that Samsung might be preparing robots to replace its human factory workers and analysts have previously predicted that as many as five million human jobs could be replaced by robots by 2020.

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KitGuru Says: Huge tech companies like Google and Microsoft have been working on robots for years and now we are starting to see that work come into effect with human workers being replaced in more industries. Do you guys think more companies will start relying on robots over human workers?Β 

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11 comments

  1. Trump will build a wall to keep the robots out, they’re scum, they’re bringing efficiency, they’re depressing wages, they’re don’t speak up when spoken to, some I assume are good robots.

  2. Irishgamer Gamer

    So less workers….less wages…less customers for their electronics……so if most workers are replaced by robots who is going to buy their phones…..

  3. The interesting question is, if most jobs are performed by robots, what will our economy look like. Right now you have to pay for a product because it costs money to make that product (similarly for services). But if production is extremely cheap, bordering on free, because everything is automated, it seems to me we can deal with 24 hour work weeks, and spend the rest of our time pursuing our hopes and dreams.

  4. They took our jaabzzz

  5. Looks like Robotic Engineering is gonna spike πŸ™‚

  6. This however, is still too far into the future. There is an obstacle we will have to face first, namely how will the government distribute income ? When jobs are taken up by robots, people dont work (cant work), so where are they getting their income from? If they do get income (becoming a socialist country where everyone is equal?) , whats to stop other people who still has a job to stop working to get the free income? Unless robots are replacing all jobs, or if the government can find a neutral solution, then this vicious cycle will stop us from progressing forward.

  7. So 60k jobs lost because Foxxcrap wants to reduce wage payouts. So if these workers are not relocated to other parts of the foxxcrap company & are just canned (laid off) how are they gonna feed theirs families now. This seems like a trend that is going to cause a lot of heartache for many people as this trend is just starting. I feel sad for our future for sure.

  8. Gary 'Gazza' Keen

    There’s always the solution of basic income, an idea that everyone is paid an equal amount of income for essentially nothing for the means to live. The basic income would have to be within a living wage but small enough that it continues to incentivise the idea of working as that would add additional income on top, allowing one to live in better conditions. Of course that would also require all jobs to offer vastly less annual salary so that it can be seen as a healthy bonus, rather than a way to double, triple, or more, the amount of income you already get.

    But like all things it’s too different to try out, too easy to fuck up, and people in power aren’t just going to give away money

  9. Jennifersmoore4

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  10. I’m going to need you to stop spamming my comment and put some “respeck” on my name.

  11. HighAltitudeObserver

    I wonder if they will get those workers to build the robots…
    In all seriousness, this will obviously become popular with continuing wage increases. Businesses exist to make money, not jobs.