As employers around the country seek ways to fill labor gaps, many are increasingly turning to the assistance of automated technology and robots. 

While pivoting to automation is certainly not a new phenomenon, it's become a salve for companies struggling to meet demand in a recent tight market, the Wall Street Journal reported. Robot orders increased 40% in the first quarter of 2022, and were up 21% overall in 2021, according to the Association for Advancing Automation, driving the industry to an estimated value of $1.6 billion. 

"People want to remove labor," Ametek Inc. CEO David A. Zapico told Bloomberg in November, noting that the automatic equipment company had been "firing on all cylinders" to meet demand.