These robots are coming for the jobs no one wants — and could fill workforce gaps - Business Insider

The Oregon-based startup has so far deployed its humanoid robot, Digit, at Amazon, Schaeffler Group, and GXO, a logistics company. The startup announced in February that a few Digit robots would be deployed in Toyota's massive manufacturing plant in Canada, marking yet another automaker betting on bipedal bots.

Daniel Diez, Agility's chief business officer, told Business Insider that there's a common thread at the companies he visits around the world. In Germany, Korea, Japan, or the US, manufacturers just don't have enough people who want to work mundane, repetitive jobs.

"It's the same exact issue: Labor gaps in these highly repetitive physical tasks," Diez said. "They simply can't find the people to do this work." Save Saved Read in app

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Agility Robotics is deploying humanoid robots at Toyota's Canada manufacturing plant. The company says its robot, Digit, will take on jobs involving highly repetitive tasks. Agility's chief business officer, Daniel Diez, said companies see labor gaps in these positions.

Backflipping robots make for splashy demos and viral videos, but Agility Robotics sees humanoid bots doing something simpler — solving an urgent global labor issue inside manufacturing plants. "This re-shoring of manufacturing in the US is going to only occur through a combination of human employment and automation technology, like humans and robotics," he said.

Automakers are notably bracing for this shifting tide. Tesla, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai, among others, have made significant investments in humanoid robots with the prospect that they'll work the assembly lines in the near future.

Boston Dynamics in January unveiled a new iteration of Atlas, an all-electric humanoid, that the startup aims to deploy in Hyundai's Georgia factory in a few years.

The company's former CEO, Robert Playter, previously told Business Insider that Boston Dynamics is helping companies brace for population decline and increased manufacturing demand.