For the record, this is what we are discussing
Posted on 12/01/2016 7:19:43 AM PST by rktman
A former McDonald's CEO is laying the blame on the "Fight for $15" movement as for why the company is embracing automation in its restaurants. McDonald's will install self-serve kiosks in its restaurants around the country to replace human cashiers.
Let’s start with automation. In 2013, when the Fight for $15 was still in its growth stage, I and others warned that union demands for a much higher minimum wage would force businesses with small profit margins to replace full-service employees with costly investments in self-service alternatives. At the time, labor groups accused business owners of crying wolf. It turns out the wolf was real.
Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced the nationwide roll-out of touchscreen self-service kiosks. In a video the company released to showcase the new customer experience, it’s striking to see employees who once would have managed a cash register now reduced to monitoring a customer’s choices at an iPad-style kiosk.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
I disagree.
The “value” of human labor is staying the same. The price paid for it is going up, which is why they are being replaced. If the value was going up also, there would be no problem.
Chick-Fil-A hires for value; smiling happy waiters and waitresses, making the purchase a pleasure and pulling customers back.
Who returns to McDonalds because of the servers?
I used of of the kiosk-McDonalds in Sydney back in Feb. It took four minutes to orientate yourself and figure the menu out...but after that, I could make my order in 30 seconds. You can let half of the kids go at McDonalds with this development.
“The machines don’t have babies or arrive late. If they get “sick” you can replace them. They don’t sue for workplace injuries.”
They don’t have bad attitudes, they aren’t rude to customers, act disinterested, etc.
Lots of stores are implementing “mobile ordering”.
For a long time, I was just another nobody standing in line talking to the cashier at Taco Bell.
Then I switched to using the mobile app, mostly to stop talking to cashiers ... and suddenly everyone behind the counter at two stores knew me by name.
No tainting your food with spit, etc.
Really. What did they expect? Do the math....oh, wait...”I can’t do that math without a photo touch screen....would that be a # 4 or # 6?” (You want fries with that?)
my credit union phased out the ATM’s. and sent me a debit card instead. I like cash!!!
LOL!
SEIU spambots are currently hard at work contacting kiosks in an organizing effort.
“so they still need people to cook the order. They need people to deliver the food. They need people to take the money. They need people to mop the floor and restock the drink glasses and clean the restroom.”
Robots for making the orders are coming. The food prep really isn’t that complicated.
Self-driving vehicles are coming. Truckloads of product will show up with minimal human intervention.
Cafeteria-style serving is the norm. Robot will put your tray on the counter and call you (announcement, call, or text).
Cashless is normalizing. Cash acceptance kiosks will take the few holdouts.
Yes, there will still be need for mundane labor. Just a whole lot less of it. ...and more skilled labor, to make/manage/maintain the automation.
Supply and demand.
I wonder how Obama’s buddy Gibbs, who is the Executive Vice President for Communications for McDonalds, is going to explain this one.
That’s a big issue; in my area these places are staffed almost exclusively by foreigners (with Asians supervising Latinos), and the service is horrible. They aren’t rude, they don’t have attitudes; they just don’t speak English (often getting orders wrong - as often in your favor as not) and they have no problem letting you sit at the pick-up window for 5 minutes with 10 cars behind you - when you’ve ordered the simplest, most common items from the $1 menu.
I hate plastic. I like cash.
But plastic (and now NFC like Apple Pay) is so blasted _convenient_ I can’t not use it.
LOL. The order may be right but you’ll still get screwed at the drive thru.
I think the kiosk works best if the menu is not complicated. Panera is not simple.
In-n-Out Burger would be perfect for use of kiosks.
Oh, you work at McDonald’s too? So you’ll settle on flipping burgers instead of gaining new skills that reap better rewards?
Tech school isn’t that expensive. Of all the Micky D’s workers probably already on some sort of benefits, I’m sure they can afford school.
Robotics are in manufacturing too, but then manufacturing technology encompasses more than just robotics. You’ve got to keep up or you’re going to get left behind.
For the record, this is what we are discussing
Sorry, still have the spitters makin’ the food. LOL!
I've started using them and it works fine for me.
I have family in San Jose, Costa Rica. When we go shopping at the local supermarket, I am stunned by how many people are working there. Two or three people in each aisle to help you find what you want, twenty or thirty at the meat counter. On top of that there are more people giving samples. Fact is, human labor is very cheap down there, so lots of people have jobs at low wages. As the minimum wage is raised, businesses find that they can make do with fewer workers. Where are the jobs supposed to be for low-skill/entry level workers? They won’t exist.
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