Amazon has reduced the number of temporary hires it needs this holiday shopping season as the company turns to more robots, Citi analyst Mark May told CNBC Friday.
"We've seen an acceleration in the use of robots within their fulfillment centers and that has corresponded with fewer and fewer workers that they're hiring around the holidays," the internet analyst said on "Squawk Alley."
With the robotic additions, the 2017 holiday season marked the first time that temporary hires at Amazon was flat from the year prior.
The internet giant expects to hire 100,000 seasonal workers this go around, 20,000 less than last year, May said.
This is the "first time on record they'll actually hire fewer this holiday season than a year ago," he said. "[This] corresponds very closely with the use of robots and automation within their facilities."
Hiring can help analysts predict expense growth at companies, May said, "which has become an important theme within the internet sector."
Robots and automation, which the Seattle-based company began adding to its warehouses about three years ago, "are making them more efficient," May explained.
Amazon is still in the decision process on which city to pick for its second headquarters. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos expects to choose a place by the end of the year.
The company has said its so-called HQ2 would bring 50,000 new jobs.
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