Humanoid Robots Are Starting to Work Alongside Human Employees

Humanoid robots are leaving the lab for factories, warehouses and airports, taking on repetitive manual work right next to human workers.

What humanoid robots are doing

According to VnExpress, several companies now run humanoid robots in real workplaces:

• Figure AI's Figure 02 worked for about 11 months at BMW's Spartanburg plant in the US, helping build more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles and handling more than 90,000 sheet metal parts.

• AgiBot of China led the market in the first half of 2026 with about 8,400 robots shipped, a 44% share. Its G2 robot picks, places and sorts components on the line with a success rate of about 99.95%.

• Japan Airlines has been testing Unitree robots at Haneda Airport since May 2026 to move baggage, as a response to labor shortages.

• Hyundai plans to bring Boston Dynamics' Atlas into its Georgia plant from 2028.

Why it matters

This is a shift from single-task industrial robots fenced off in their own area to general-purpose machines that fit into existing human workflows. Productivity still lags, though: UBTech says its Walker S2 reaches about 30 to 50% of a human worker's output.

What it means for workforce planning

The near-term impact is not mass replacement but redesigned roles. Manufacturers in Vietnam can start with a few questions:

• Which tasks are the most repetitive, physically demanding or hardest to hire for?

• If that task is automated, what role will today's workers move into?

• What skills do staff need to operate and supervise automated equipment?

Answering these early lets a company plan ahead instead of reacting when the technology arrives.

Source: VnExpress