Staples, Gap, Amazon replace workers with robots

A new book argues that increased automation is reducing the number of jobs available to human workers--and it is only likely to get worse in the coming years. We interviewed one of its authors last month.

Now comes news that bolsters that notion. Big-name retailers like Staples, Amazon, and the Gap are using robots to help stock warehouse shelves, CNNMoney.com reports. Using a grid system, the machines travel around the warehouse and pick up shelves of goods to bring to human workers.

The good news: The robots help companies reduce costs. The bad: They also take jobs away from flesh and blood workers, at a time when unemployment is at 9 percent, and workers are already having to compete with lower cost foreign labor.