Robots Replacing Jobs: What Employers May Do and What Rights Workers Have

Robots take on assembly work, sort goods, create evaluations and process customer inquiries. This is changing many professions. But a robot in the company is not a free ticket for layoffs. Employers are allowed to automate processes and reorganize workplaces. If a position is permanently lost as a result, dismissal for operational reasons is an option. However, there are clear requirements for this in Germany. This article explains when robots are legally allowed to replace workers, which professions are particularly affected and how workers and works councils can react.

Key points at a glance

Companies are allowed to use robots, software and AI and reorganize their operational processes.
Automation does not automatically justify the termination of previously employed workers.
The specific need for employment must be permanently eliminated. Mere cost savings or planned use of robots alone are not enough.
Before a dismissal for operational reasons, possible continued employment, qualifications and the legally required social selection must be examined.
After receiving a written notice of termination, there are usually only three weeks left for a claim for protection against dismissal.

Are robots allowed to replace workers?

Short answer: Yes, a company can replace human labor with robots or automated software. However, termination is only permissible if the job is actually and permanently eliminated as a result of a specific business measure, no suitable continued employment is possible and all labor law requirements are adhered to.

German labor law does not have a fundamental ban on automating work processes. Employers are allowed to decide which machines they purchase, how they produce them and how many workers they need. However, this entrepreneurial freedom ends where termination would be socially unjustified, discriminatory or ineffective for other reasons.

The crucial question is therefore not whether a robot suddenly appears in the company. What matters is what specifically changes as a result of its use. Does the machine only support one employee? Are only individual steps omitted? Or does the entire employment need for a particular position disappear? Only the last variant can result in termination for operational reasons.

Robots replace activities, not automatically entire professions

In the public debate, automation potential, job cuts and the complete disappearance of a profession are often lumped together. This leads to dramatic headlines, but does not adequately reflect the world of work.

Definition: The substitutability potential refers to the proportion of activities in a profession that, given the current state of technology, could potentially be carried out by computers or computer-controlled machines. It is not a prediction of how many people will lose their jobs.

The Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research, or IAB for short, determines this potential based on typical core activities of a profession. According to the recalculation for 2022, around 38 percent of workers subject to social insurance contributions in Germany worked in professions with a high substitutability potential of more than 70 percent. This corresponded to around 13.03 million workers. In 2019, the proportion was around 34 percent.

These numbers do not mean that 13 million jobs will disappear in the short term. The IAB itself points out that professions are usually not completely replaced. In practice, four different developments take place:

Individual activities are automated: A machine takes over lifting, sorting, checking or documenting.
The job profile is changing: Employees control systems, check results or handle special cases.
Productivity increases: The same team can complete more orders without immediately reducing staff.
Jobs will be eliminated: Only when the remaining scope of work is no longer sufficient can the need for personnel decrease.

There are further hurdles between technical feasibility and actual introduction. Robots cost money, require space, require maintenance, and do not work reliably in every environment. Security rules, data protection, liability issues, customer wishes and the acceptance of the workforce also play a role.

If you would like to check your personal job profile, you can use the IAB’s Job-Futuromat. The tool shows not only tasks that can be automated, but also activities that still require human judgment.

Which professions are particularly affected by robots and automation

Clearly defined, frequently repeated and digitally recorded processes are particularly easy to automate. The more uniform input data, work steps and results are, the easier it is for a machine to take over the process.

The following table shows the average substitutability potential of selected occupational segments according to the IAB recalculation for 2022. This refers to the proportion of activities that could potentially be technically automated – not the expected proportion of jobs that will be eliminated.

Substitutability potential according to occupational segments in Germany
Professional segment	Potentially automatable activities	Typical starting points
Manufacturing occupations	87.9%	Processing, assembly, machine assembly, quality control
Manufacturing technical professions	74.8%	Machine control, measurement, process monitoring
Professions in business management and organization	68.0%	Planning, documentation, reports, standardized analyzes
Company-related service professions	66.5%	Data processing, booking processes, administration
Commercial professions	65.9%	Cash collection, inventory management, price control, consultation preparation
Transportation and logistics professions	61.2%	Sorting, transporting, picking, route planning
IT and scientific service professions	52.5%	Code creation, testing, data analysis, documentation
Agricultural, forestry and horticultural professions	50.3%	Harvesting, monitoring, irrigation, area analysis
Food and Hospitality Occupations	49.5%	Order, preparation steps, serving, cleaning
Cleaning jobs	45.4%	Soil cleaning, surface disinfection, autonomous navigation
Construction and expansion occupations	42.5%	Measuring, material transport, prefabrication, documentation
Security jobs	42.5%	Video analysis, access control, tours, alarms
Medical and non-medical health professions	26.5%	Documentation, diagnostic assistance, logistics, appointment planning
Social and cultural service professions	13.5%	Administration and preparation instead of core interpersonal tasks

Source: IAB: Substitutability potential according to occupational segments, recalculation 2022.

Why high values do not automatically mean high unemployment

A manufacturing job with 87.9 percent potential isn’t necessarily going away. The number initially only says: Many typical activities could be technically automated. Whether a company uses this potential depends on investment costs, quantities, product variants and the existing infrastructure.

In large-scale production, a robot can quickly pay off. In a small workshop with constantly changing individual orders, the calculation looks different. An experienced employee often remains more flexible than an expensive special system.

Skilled workers and highly qualified people are also affected

Automation no longer just applies to simple helper tasks. Generative AI can create texts, suggest program code, structure data and provide initial analyses. This increases the technical potential in IT professions, controlling, construction and organizational functions.

Especially there, AI often does not replace a complete workplace. It changes the weighting of the tasks. Routines are becoming shorter, while control, professional classification, communication and responsibility are becoming more important.

Where robots are already taking over human work

Production: The classic area of application

Industrial robots weld car bodies, paint components, equip machines and move heavy workpieces. These tasks are physically demanding and often follow fixed patterns. This makes them particularly suitable for automation.

In many factories, machines and people now work side by side. Collaborative robots, so-called cobots, pass tools, hold components or carry out ergonomically unfavorable movements. Such systems can make workplaces safer without completely removing people from the process.

Logistics: sorting, transporting and packaging

In logistics centers, autonomous vehicles move shelves, bring containers to packing stations or transport goods between different areas. Camera systems check barcodes and dimensions. Packaging machines cut boxes to the required size.Amazon announced plans to introduce hundreds of automated packaging machines in Europe in 2025. According to the company, more than 30 of these systems should be in use in Germany by the end of 2025. The example shows how quickly individual process steps can be automated. However, it does not prove that every machine installed leads to a certain number of terminations.

Source: Logistics Today: Amazon relies on tailor-made shipping packaging.

Office and administration: The robot is in the software

When people think of robots, they think of a metal arm in a factory. In the office, automation usually happens invisibly. Software reads invoices, compares data, sends standard messages and transfers information between different systems.

Such software robots can process large quantities of similar processes. People are needed above all in cases of exceptions: when documents are missing, information is contradictory or a decision has to be classified legally and economically.

Care and social work: assistance instead of complete replacement

In care facilities, robots can transport objects, remind people to take medication or support movement exercises. This can hardly replace the actual relationship work. Trust, empathy, observation and situation-dependent decisions remain core human tasks.

The low substitutability potential of social and cultural service professions confirms this difference. Technical systems can relieve workers. But they cannot easily take on the entire social role.

When termination due to automation is allowed

There is no separate “automation law” for dismissals as a result of the use of robots. The general labor law rules apply. For larger companies, the focus is usually on the Dismissal Protection Act.

When the Dismissal Protection Act applies

General protection against dismissal generally requires that the employment relationship has existed for longer than six months. In addition, the Dismissal Protection Act applies regularly in companies with more than ten workers. There are transitional and special rules for older employment relationships and certain employee constellations.Even in a small business, termination may not be completely arbitrary, immoral or discriminatory. However, the comprehensive review standard of the Dismissal Protection Act does not apply in the same way there.

Legal basis: § 1 of the Dismissal Protection Act and § 23 of the Dismissal Protection Act.

The five central requirements for a dismissal for operational reasons

Checking a cancellation after automation
Requirement	What is being checked
Concrete business measure	The employer must have made and implemented a comprehensible decision to change work processes. A vague intention to automate is not enough.
Permanent elimination of the need for employment	The previous tasks must be completely eliminated or reduced to such an extent that there is no longer sufficient work for the position in question.
No suitable continued employment	It must be checked whether there is a free workplace in the company or company. Depending on the individual case, reasonable training, further training or changed working conditions may also be relevant.
Correct social selection	For comparable workers, length of service, age, maintenance obligations and severe disability must be taken into account in particular.
Due process	The notice period, written form, possible special dismissal protection rules and the consultation of an existing works council must be adhered to.

The job really has to be eliminated

An employer cannot effectively declare, “We are buying a robot and are therefore terminating three workers.” He must be able to clearly demonstrate the connection between the operational change and the reduced personnel requirements.

If the machine only takes on some of the previous tasks, there are often enough other activities left. Then an adjustment to the workplace, a transfer or a change in tasks may be more appropriate than a termination notice.

It also becomes problematic if the supposedly eliminated activities are carried out shortly after the termination by newly hired workers, temporary workers or permanently employed external companies. Such circumstances may raise doubts as to whether the need for employment has actually been eliminated.

Alternative employment must be considered before dismissal

Termination should not be the first resort. If there is a free and suitable job, continued employment must be examined. This may involve a different department, a changed area of responsibility or employment under adjusted conditions.

According to Section 1 of the Dismissal Protection Act, reasonable further training or retraining can also play a role. However, the employer does not have to create every new job or finance years of complete vocational training. Where the limit lies depends on the skills gap, duration, costs and operational possibilities.

Social-selection rules influence who may be dismissed

If several comparable jobs are lost, the employer cannot simply select the least popular or most expensive employee. He must carry out the statutory social selection.

These four criteria in particular must be taken into account:

Length of employment,
Age,
legal maintenance obligations,
Severe disability.

Only workers who are fundamentally interchangeable due to their work and qualifications are compared. Employees with special knowledge can be excluded from the selection under certain conditions if their continued employment is in the legitimate company interest.

Only three weeks for a dismissal protection claim

Anyone who receives a written notice of termination and wants to defend themselves against it must act quickly. According to § 4 of the Dismissal Protection Act, a dismissal protection claim must generally be received by the labor court within three weeks of receipt of the dismissal.

This period also runs if discussions about severance pay, a transfer or an amicable agreement are currently taking place. If it is missed, the termination is considered effective in many cases – even if it would originally have been open to challenge.

Is there automatic severance pay?

No. A dismissal for operational reasons does not automatically lead to severance pay. A claim can arise from a social plan, collective agreement, termination agreement, court settlement or an express offer in accordance with Section 1a of the Dismissal Protection Act.

If an offer is made in accordance with Section 1a, the employee waives the right to take action for protection against dismissal. For this purpose, the law generally provides for a severance payment of 0.5 monthly earnings per year of employment. Before such a waiver, it should be checked how vulnerable the termination is and what financial or social consequences will arise.Legal basis: § 1a Dismissal Protection Act.

What rights the works council has when using robots

A works council cannot fundamentally prohibit the purchase of a robot. However, he has extensive information, advice and, in some cases, co-determination rights. These rights start early – not just when the first terminations are given.

Participation rights of the works council in automation
Phase	Law of the works council	Legal basis
Planning of technical systems and AI systems	Timely information and advice about technology, work processes and effects on workers	§ 90 BetrVG
Human resources planning	Information about future personnel requirements, personnel measures and qualification requirements	§ 92 BetrVG
Securing jobs	Suggestions on qualification, work organization and alternatives to outsourcing or job cuts	§ 92a BetrVG
In-company vocational training	Advice on further training measures; Under certain conditions, further participation rights	§ 97 BetrVG
Major operational change	Advice on balancing interests and possible regulations in a social plan	§ 111 BetrVG
Termination	Hearing before any termination; Termination without consulting the existing works council is invalid	§ 102 BetrVG

Participation is particularly effective when it begins in the planning phase. New task profiles, qualification programs and transfer options can then be developed before staff reductions appear to be the only solution.On the other hand, if workers are only informed once the machines have been ordered and the new processes have been fully defined, fear, resistance and mistrust quickly arise. Our article on Sabotage and Robomobbing in Smart Factories shows what consequences a poorly accompanied introduction can have.

Checklist: This is how employers should prepare for automation in a legally compliant manner

Record work processes specifically: Which activities are no longer necessary, which ones change and which new tasks arise?
Calculate personnel requirements in a comprehensible way: A general savings target does not replace a reliable job and task analysis.
Involve the works council at an early stage: Technical planning, work design and personnel consequences should not be treated separately from one another.
Check continued employment: Vacancies, transfers, termination notices and reasonable qualifications must be taken into account before termination.
Offer qualification: Anyone who can operate systems, check results or resolve faults will quickly turn a supposedly replaceable employee into a sought-after specialist.
Document social selection: Comparison groups and selection criteria must be comprehensible.
Consider data protection and occupational safety: Cameras, performance evaluations, assistance systems and collaboration with robots can trigger additional obligations.
Use pilot phases: A limited test shows whether the planned productivity gains are even achievable in everyday life.

Funding instruments from the Federal Employment Agency are available for further training related to structural change. This includes subsidies for further training costs and wages as well as qualification allowance under certain conditions.

Further information: Federal Employment Agency: Further training and qualification offensive.

Checklist: What workers can do if they are threatened with job loss

Document your own activities: Write down which tasks you actually carry out and which of them will remain even after automation.
Make qualifications visible: Additional knowledge, substitute tasks, machine knowledge and experience in other departments can be decisive for the comparison group.
Ask about continued employment: Let us explain which vacancies and qualification paths have been examined.
Involve the works council or union: Don’t wait until the last working day to do this.
Don’t sign anything too quickly: A termination agreement or waiver of legal action can have an impact on severance pay, unemployment benefits and other claims.
Record receipt of the termination: The date is decisive for the three-week period for the dismissal protection action.
Get advice early on: Labor law errors can often no longer be corrected after legal deadlines have expired.
Select further training strategically: It makes sense to have knowledge that complements the new process – such as system control, quality control, data checking, maintenance or occupational safety.

Which skills remain in demand despite robots

The more routine work becomes automated, the more valuable skills become that machines have difficulty replicating reliably. These include, above all:

situation-dependent decisions,
professional responsibility and plausibility check,
Communication and conflict resolution,
Empathy and relationship work,
practical improvisation for unknown problems,
Maintenance and safe operation of automated systems,
Linking empirical knowledge with digital data.

A warehouse worker who only moves boxes is comparatively easy to replace. However, if the same person knows inventory management, safety requirements, troubleshooting and quality control, the situation looks different. It is not the previous job title that protects against changes. Broad, practical skills are more likely to do the trick.

Robots as colleagues instead of as complete replacements

The most likely future is not a working world without people. More often, a new division of labor arises: machines carry out quick, difficult or monotonous steps. People plan, monitor, decide and intervene in the event of deviations.

However, this only works if companies do not view technology exclusively as a savings program. Anyone who ignores experiential knowledge from operations risks poor planning, low acceptance and processes prone to failure. Employees often know exactly those special cases that are missing from a theoretical automation concept.Technology doesn’t just change the number of jobs. It changes power, responsibility, performance evaluation and the daily rhythm of work. The article The AI robots are coming – and we are not ready offers a further look at this development.

Safety and liability issues also remain relevant. We explain who is responsible if an autonomous system causes damage in the article Who is liable for damage caused by humanoid robots?.

Frequently asked questions about robots and workplaces

Are robots allowed to replace workers in Germany?

Companies are allowed to automate workflows and replace human activities with robots or software. However, termination is only permitted if the specific need for employment no longer exists and all labor law requirements are met.

Is automation automatically a reason for termination?

No. Purchasing a robot alone does not justify termination. The employer must be able to demonstrate that the affected position will no longer be needed in the long term as a result of the implemented operational change.

Does the employer have to offer another job before termination?

Suitable continued employment must always be examined. This can concern a vacant job, a transfer, changed working conditions or, in individual cases, reasonable further training.

How long can you sue against a termination?

A claim for protection against dismissal must generally be received by the labor court within three weeks of receipt of the written notice of termination. Discussions about severance pay or continued employment do not automatically stop this period.

Does the works council have to agree to the use of robots?

A works council does not have a general veto right over the purchase of a robot. However, he must be involved in the planning of technical systems, changes to work processes and before terminations in accordance with legal requirements.

Is there always a severance payment if you are terminated due to automation?

No, there is not an automatic entitlement to severance pay in every case. A severance payment can result from a social plan, collective agreement, settlement, termination agreement or an offer in accordance with Section 1a of the Dismissal Protection Act.

Which jobs can robots replace particularly easily?

Activities with fixed processes, frequent repetitions and clearly measurable results are particularly affected. This includes many tasks in manufacturing, logistics, trade, administration and technical process control.

Does a high potential for automation mean that the profession will disappear?

No. The automation potential describes the proportion of technically replaceable tasks and not the probability of a complete job loss. Occupations often change as new control, management and communication tasks arise.

Conclusion: A robot does not automatically make a termination legal

Robots can replace jobs. Legally, this doesn’t happen at the push of a button. The employer must actually change its operational processes, the need for employment must decrease permanently and suitable continued employment must not be possible. If several comparable workers are affected, social selection is added.

What counts most for workers is speed. Once notice of termination has been received, there is usually a period of just three weeks. Anyone who would like to have their rights checked should therefore not wait for the end of severance negotiations.

The IAB figures also show why panic doesn’t help. Activities that can be automated should not be equated with jobs that are no longer available. Many positions are being redesigned. People take on less routine and more control, responsibility and problem solving. This is exactly where the realistic opportunity lies: not in a competition between man and machine, but in a fair and well-thought-out division of tasks.

About the author

Nico Nuss has been working on mobile computing, automation software and the practical effects of new technologies since 2001. His editorial focus is on robotics, artificial intelligence and the question of how technical innovations can be used responsibly in everyday life and the world of work. More about the author.

Sources and legal bases

IAB short report 5/2024: Consequences of technological change for the labor market
IAB: Substitutability potential according to occupational segments
§ 1 Dismissal Protection Act: Socially unjustified dismissals
§ 4 Dismissal Protection Act: Appeal to the Labor Court
§ 23 Dismissal Protection Act: Scope
§ 90 Works Constitution Act: Information and advice rights
§ 102 Works Constitution Act: Co-determination in the event of dismissals
§ 111 Works Constitution Act: operational changes
Federal Employment Agency: Further training and qualification offensive

Worker rights differ sharply by jurisdiction

The detailed dismissal rules above describe Germany. They must not be applied to other countries. In the United Kingdom, redundancy normally requires a fair reason, a fair selection process and meaningful consultation; collective consultation rules apply to larger redundancy exercises. In the United States, most private employment is governed by state-based at-will rules, but discrimination law, contracts, collective-bargaining duties and the federal WARN Act can restrict large layoffs. In India, retrenchment, notice and consultation obligations depend on establishment size, state rules and the applicable industrial-relations legislation.

In every jurisdiction, employers should document why a role changes, test alternatives, involve employee representatives where required and assess whether an automated selection tool creates unlawful discrimination.

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Nico Nuss

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Author Nico Nuss has been working on mobile computing and automation software since 2001. Drawing on his experience and strong interest in future technologies, he focuses on robotics and AI.