Fact of the Week: Robot Purchases in North American Warehousing Industry Totaled $1.2B in First Half of 2026

Source: Liz Young, “Why Warehouses Are Rolling In More Robots,” The Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2026.

Commentary: In response to high labor costs and low labor supply, North American companies have begun to increase automation in warehouses. Last year, the warehouse industry purchased more than 36,700 robots, the largest amount since 2022. In the first half of 2026, North American firms are on track to surpass that amount, purchasing nearly 18,000 robots, up 2 percent from the same period last year. The value of these purchases totals about $1.2 billion, 7 percent more than last year. Warehouses are looking to automation as wages in the warehousing sector continue to rise. In June, the average wage in the sector reached nearly $27 per hour, 5 percent more than June 2025, and 41 percent more than just one decade ago. At the same time, there is a significant shortage of workers, with about 392,000 jobs unfilled across the transportation, warehousing, and utilities industry in June, 87,000 more than the same time last year. Firms are increasingly investing in technologies designed to take over the most strenuous and least desirable jobs in the industry, including those that require physical labor such as loading and unloading trucks.