JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong has pledged to safeguard the jobs of the company's 900,000 employees, including 700,000 frontline workers such as delivery personnel, despite his belief that robots will eventually take over all package deliveries. Liu stated that JD.com would not fire a single frontline worker replaced by machines. This commitment comes amidst growing concerns about AI and automation displacing jobs, and after a Chinese court ruling in April that companies cannot terminate employees or cut salaries solely to replace them with AI systems. Chinese authorities also mandated last year that companies must retrain or reassign workers before termination due to technological changes.
To prepare for the transition to an automated future, JD.com has launched an internal "Nirvana Plan" and partnered with 120 schools across China. This initiative aims to provide technical training programs for employees, equipping them with new skills like robot maintenance and servicing. This strategy allows workers to transition into new roles as automation becomes more prevalent in the company's operations, which already include unmanned warehouses, drone delivery, self-driving vehicles, and automated convenience stores.
Liu's announcement, made in an internal speech on May 27, 2026, and reiterated at the 2026 APEC China CEO Forum, seeks to allay fears about job losses due to AI and robotics. JD.com, one of China's largest employers, is positioning itself as a leader in managing the societal impact of technological advancement by prioritizing worker retraining and job security. This move aligns with broader Chinese government efforts to balance AI adoption with labor market stability, especially given the country's slowing economy and elevated youth unemployment. Liu previously predicted in 2018 that robots would replace human workers in retail, and his current stance reframes automation as a means to enhance productivity and expand capacity rather than directly cut staff.
