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Logistics Under Automation and Digitalisation: How Technology Displaces Human Work

In: Technology and Work in Services

Author

Listed:
  • Valeria Cirillo

    (University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’)

  • Francesco S. Massimo

    (Sciences Po
    University of Bologna)

  • Matteo Rinaldini

    (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)

  • Jacopo Staccioli

    (Catholic University of Milan)

Abstract

Logistics operations, central to global capitalism, are transforming due to automation and digital technologies like Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs), especially in warehouses. Despite technological advances, the sector relies on a low-skilled workforce often facing precarious conditions, including low wages, unsafe environments, and migrant worker exploitation. AGVs have not replaced human labour, as management values human flexibility over full automation to meet market demands, limiting AGV-driven job replacement. Rather, automation displaces labour, leading to work reorganisation. AGVs significantly reshape tasks, professional roles, and organisational boundaries. Their impact varies across companies, with technologically autonomous firms like Amazon experiencing deeper labour reorganisation and intensified value extraction. Automation's integration depends on corporate governance and market roles, creating uneven effects on workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Valeria Cirillo & Francesco S. Massimo & Matteo Rinaldini & Jacopo Staccioli, 2025. "Logistics Under Automation and Digitalisation: How Technology Displaces Human Work," Springer Books, in: Valeria Cirillo & Matteo Rinaldini & Maria Enrica Virgillito (ed.), Technology and Work in Services, chapter 0, pages 35-64, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-88149-7_2
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-88149-7_2
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