Manufacturers in the United States are expected to leave 2.1 million jobs unfilled by 2030. In a 2021 study, the Manufacturing Institute estimated This gap could cost the economy $1 trillion in that year alone. In construction, builders and associated contractors earlier this year Expected The industry needs an additional 439,000 workers in 2025 just to keep up with demand.
Companies are deploying AI-powered robots and autonomous equipment not to cut headcount, but because of a lack of headcount. 2026 Talent Shortage Survey conducted by ManpowerGroup Found 72% of employers globally report that they have difficulty finding the talent they need. This number has remained above 70% for several years in a row.
Humanoid robots fill the transformations
Agility Robotics I mentioned Last November, Digit, a humanoid robot, moved more than 100,000 bags in live trade operations. The robot now operates across several Fortune 500 partners. In April, Agility Robotics detailed Deployments at Amazon, Schaeffler Group and logistics provider GXO.
According to Diving Manufacturing 2024 a reportFigure AI’s Figure 02 robots ran 10-hour shifts at BMW’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, over the course of 11 months. The robots processed more than 90,000 cycles of sheet metal on the active assembly line. BMW ever since Expanded The program is transferred to its facility in Leipzig, Germany.
In the month of April a report Regarding actual AI adoption among companies in Japan, TechCrunch said Japan’s population will decline for the 14th consecutive year in 2024, with working-age people accounting for 59.6% of the total. This share is expected to shrink by about 15 million over the next two decades. “Physical AI is being bought as a continuity tool: How do you keep factories, warehouses, infrastructure and service operations running with fewer people?” General Partner of Global Brain Huggle duh TechCrunch said. Sho Yamanaka of Salesforce Ventures told the media that the country’s labor shortage made physical AI necessary, even urgent.
The robotics market is taking shape
Nvidia Announce Last October, companies including Agility Robotics, Figer, and Skild AI were using their Omniverse technologies to build robotic factories and autonomous collaborative robots. The company said the effort aims to overcome labor shortages in American industry. “The ChatGPT moment for physical AI is here,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said He said At CES 2026 in January.
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According to a TechCrunch report, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in March that it aims to capture a 30% share of the global physical AI market by 2040. The government has allocated nearly $6.3 billion for core AI capabilities, robotics integration and industrial deployment.
In a February 2024 report, Goldman Sachs Expected The humanoid robotics market is expected to reach $38 billion by 2035, compared to Goldman’s previous estimate of $6 billion. Manufacturing costs across the sector fell by 40% between 2023 and 2024. Morgan Stanley in May 2025 estimated The broader robotics market, including supply chains and services, is expected to reach $5 trillion by 2050.
Retiring baby boomers are driving the deployment of robotics
By 2030, a estimated 30.4 million baby boomers will reach the traditional retirement age of 65. The share of the U.S. population over age 65 was 12.4% in 2007 and 17.9 in 2024. It is expected to reach 21.2% by 2035. Employers will have to replace a lot of those job openings — one way or another.
