American industrialists have become more inclined to buy robots to replace their workers. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Journalists refer to the Automation Development Association’s report, in which orders for industrial robot production in the first quarter showed a record 40 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Entrepreneurs spent about 1.6 billion dollars on the manufacture and installation of machines. The increased supply is linked to the coronavirus pandemic, which has increased absenteeism.

According to WSJ experts, US manufacturers, traditionally with large numbers of workers and fixed wages, have been slower to master robotics than some other industrialized countries. In this respect, the region lags behind South Korea, Japan and Germany. In the United States, robots are widely used in the automotive industry, where machines do heavy routine work. But in recent months, devices have begun to appear in other sectors of the economy, including food production.

For example, metal equipment company Athena has purchased seven robots in the last 18 months. According to the company, grinding welds usually took an employee about three hours, but now the robot can do it in 30 minutes. Medical device maker Delphon said the work increased productivity and increased supply by about 15 percent in 2021 and 2020.

According to Daron Asemoglu, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), businesses’ increasing reliance on robots will lead to a workforce surplus. This will inevitably lead to lower wages in the years to come, unless other U.S. industries are able to accept laid-off workers.