Staffed checkout is more absurd than digging a canal with spoons. Staffed checkout is akin to digging a canal by covering it with dirt.
I used to shop once a month and stock up for the month.
Now I do it weekly, because it’s a pain in the you-know-what to try to do more than a week’s worth of groceries at self-checkout.
And what I’m noticing is that now even at peak there may be no more than three cashiers at any one time available.
We have had self-checkout in Seattle for at least 10 years.
One person handles 8 registers easily at my Safeway store.
At my QFC store, they have one person on 13 registers - with a second helper sometimes at peak hours.
It all depends on the customers. If they know how operate the equipment and use a card, it works flawlessly.
If the customers are staring at the screen for 15 seconds between swipes and paying with cash, then it really is absurd.