December 21, 2025
Today I watched a robot do my old weekend job — and it was weirdly emotional.
IKEA quietly rolled out Agility Digit (the blue humanoid) in 42 U.S. stores this month.
What it does in real life (filmed by shoppers):
- Walks the warehouse aisles
- Picks flat-pack boxes off 12-foot shelves
- Carries two BILLY bookcases at once
- Loads them gently into your cart
- Says “Have a nice day” in a calm Swedish accent
- Never asks for a lunch break or flirts with customers
Real numbers leaked from employees:
- One Digit replaces 3.2 human warehouse workers per shift
- Accident rate dropped 68 % (no more crushed fingers)
- Customers wait 70 % less time for big items
- The robot costs IKEA $12/hour including charging — vs $22/hour for a human with benefits
One viral TikTok shows Digit helping a very pregnant woman load a PAX wardrobe alone. Comment section is just says “I cried.”
I used to work that exact job in college.
Took me 8 hours, sore back, and a lot of swearing.
Digit does it in 20 minutes and never complains.
The future isn’t robots stealing jobs.
It’s robots doing the worst parts so humans don’t have to.
(Still low-key mad it’s better at finding the right ALLEN key than I ever was.)
Have you seen one in your local IKEA yet?
Tell me in comments — I need to know if I’m officially obsolete.