JD.com Founder Plans to Retrain 700,000 Couriers for Office Roles Amid Automation JD.com’s founder has set out an unusually blunt vision of an automated future: the company’s 700,000 human couriers will disappear from delivery routes, yet are promised a place in its white-collar ranks.

Early warnings on automation

Speaking at the APEC China CEO Forum in Shenzhen, Richard Liu said robots would “sooner or later” take over JD.com’s deliveries, replacing its 700,000 delivery workers. Another report framed his comments as a warning that “robots will replace 700,000 delivery workers ‘sooner or later’.” The admission stands out in an industry where many executives avoid saying directly that machines will take people’s jobs.

The “Nirvana” retraining plan

To pre-empt those losses, JD.com has launched an internal program, dubbed “Nirvana,” aimed at moving couriers into new roles before large-scale robot deployment. Liu described several “Nirvana Plans” to “white-collarize” JD’s blue-collar workforce, shifting delivery riders and other staff into office-based roles over the coming years.

JD.com has signed contracts with about 120 schools across China to retrain workers in skills such as repairing and maintaining the robots that will replace them, creating roles like robot maintenance engineer and AI trainer. Liu has said that in the age of AI, workers will not be needed for deliveries, but will still be required to repair or troubleshoot those robots, and he reiterated that he does not want his “700,000 brothers” left without jobs or income.

Tension and broader implications

Internally, Liu has pledged that JD.com “would not fire any employee whose job was being replaced by robots,” instead promising retraining and reassignment. Analysts note a tension between forecasting that couriers will “basically no longer [be] needed” and guaranteeing employment for all existing frontline workers, with the outcome hinging on whether retraining can outpace the rollout of automation.

Policymakers watching China’s rapid adoption of technology fear that similar automation waves could threaten millions of gig-economy jobs beyond JD.com. Liu, for his part, has called for an internationally recognized protocol for adopting AI and robots, arguing that automation should not “deprive people of the right to work.”

[1] JD.com robots will replace its 700,000 couriers — “JD.com robots will eventually replace the company’s 700,000 couriers, its founder says. It is a rare admission that automation is coming for blue-collar jobs.”

[2] Robots will replace 700,000 delivery workers ‘sooner or later’, warns JD.com boss — “China’s rapid adoption of technology threatens millions of gig-economy jobs, policymakers fear.”

[3] Founder of China’s Amazon wants his 700,000 blue-collar workers to be ‘white-collarized’ in time for AI — “JD.com founder Richard Liu said he would retrain his 700,000 delivery workers as robots take over manual delivery tasks.”

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