Apple's contract manufacturer, Foxconn, recently cut down jobs of 60000 employees and replaced them with robots. The main reason behind this is stated to be the company's new strategic initiative of automating its work processes. There are reports that the Taiwanese manufacturer wasn't to cut down on repetitive tasks routine and thus, help his employees indulge in other productive activities like R&D, process control, and quality control.

BBC News reported that Foxconn did the job-cut activity in order to replace humans with robots for carrying out the company's manufacturing tasks associated with operations. According to the statement released by the company, the main intention behind the layoff is to apply robotics engineering and other technologies to the workflow of the production process.

"We will continue to harness automation and manpower in our manufacturing operations, and we expect to maintain our significant workforce in China," read Foxconn's statement, as reported by Digital Trends. There are reports that the company still has around more than 1.2 million employees, even after the job cuts.

Further, there are many reports, which have shown support for Foxconn's recent decision. The reports state that the automated work process is the need of the hour for manufacturing companies like Foxconn, as the contract-based device manufacturing business is expanding all over the world. The Verge said that robots will help the manufacturing process to be completed within the stipulated time and thus, help Foxconn to serve its customers with products without any defect.

On the other hand, some reports claimed that the rise of automation would result in upsetting loss of jobs and economic instability. Quartz reported that, according to a research conducted by Oxford University, around 35 percent of jobs would be automated over the next two decades. Some reports also suggest that within 30 years, robots will be found in almost all fields doing every kind of job in existence.

Foxconn is one of the largest manufacturers globally, which produces Apple's iPhone devices, Samsung's Galaxy smartphones, Sony's PlayStation 4 and other devices for many high-profile technology brands in the world.