$20m avocado packing shed upgrade halves workforce with robots
Robots replace half the casual workforce and double the output capacity at one of Australia's largest avocado packing sheds.
The Avocado Collective in Manjimup, Western Australia, has replaced nearly half of its workforce with robots in a $17 million investment. The nine Japanese-made machines now handle tasks such as scanning, stacking and moving pallets of avocados. This shift has reduced the casual workforce by nearly 50% while doubling production capacity.
While the collective believes automation brings benefits like reliability and safety, unions and experts have mixed opinions on the impact of robots on employment. They express concerns about job loss, especially for migrant workers who were previously brought in through the federal government's PALM Scheme. The collective has embraced automation due to high labor costs and difficulties finding local workers.
However, some argue that automation may lead to job elimination and negatively affect livelihoods. Despite these concerns, Avocados Australia chairman Brad Rogers remains confident that the PALM scheme will continue to be important for the avocado industry.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
