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McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks
Forbes ^ | 11 july 2018 | Ed Rensi

Posted on 07/18/2018 1:38:23 AM PDT by Cronos

“Would you like fries with that?” may soon be a phrase of the past.

As minimum wage levels approach or surpass $15 nationwide, restaurant customers expecting to be greeted by a smiling face will instead be welcomed by a glowing LED screen.

As of 2020, self-service ordering kiosks will be implemented at all U.S. McDonald’s locations. Other chains, including fast-casual brands like Panera and casual-dining brands like Chili's, have already embraced this trend. Some restaurant concepts have even automated the food-preparation process; earlier this year, NBC News profiled "Flippy," a robot hamburger flipper. Other upcoming concepts include virtual restaurants which eliminate the need for full-service restaurants (and staff) by only offering home delivery

While some consumers may appreciate the novelty or added convenience, the conveniences come at the cost of entry-level jobs.

My concern about this is personal. Without my opportunity to start as a grill man, I would have never ended up running one of largest fast food chains in the world. I started working at McDonald’s making the minimum wage of 85 cents an hour. I worked hard and earned a promotion to restaurant manager within just one year, then went on to hold almost every position available throughout the company, eventually rising to CEO of McDonalds USA.

The kind of job that allowed me and many others to rise through the ranks is now being threatened by a rising minimum wage that’s pricing jobs out of the market. Without sacrificing food quality or taste, or abandoning the much-loved value menu, franchise owners must keep labor costs under control. One way to combat rising labor costs is by reducing the amount of employees needed.

(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS:
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To: PIF

because fast food workers frequently have to wash their hands while customers don’t-


41 posted on 07/18/2018 3:35:19 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: Cronos

I’ve used one of these kiosks. I can see someone waiting in line losing patience with people who just can’t press the buttons fast enough for their liking. Our society just isn’t civil enough anymore.


42 posted on 07/18/2018 3:46:24 AM PDT by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them)
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To: Cronos

Too bad the leftist politicians are incapable of learning a lesson from this. They will continue to illegally mandate a minimum hourly rate until everyone is out of work and poor.


43 posted on 07/18/2018 3:55:13 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Liberalism, like insanity, is the denial of reality.)
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To: SkyPilot

I can’t believe all these people really want jobs.

When would they find time to protest?


44 posted on 07/18/2018 3:55:51 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia (Democrats: The perfect party for the helpless and stupid, and those who would rule over them.)
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To: Cronos

bump


45 posted on 07/18/2018 4:09:59 AM PDT by foreverfree
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To: Cronos

“...customers expecting to be greeted by a smiling face will instead be welcomed by...”


Let’s be honest. Unless you’re at Chic Fil A, you’re not being greeted by a smile.

Next, replace the burger flippers.


46 posted on 07/18/2018 4:10:41 AM PDT by ConservativeWarrior (Fall down 7 times, stand up 8. - Japanese proverb)
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To: snarkytart

“They’re easy to use but they do take a bit longer for the reason you mentioned.”


Only for neophytes. Any of my 3 kids can put a 4-sub order into a Wawa kiosk faster than anyone could convey verbally.

More accurately, too.


47 posted on 07/18/2018 4:13:19 AM PDT by ConservativeWarrior (Fall down 7 times, stand up 8. - Japanese proverb)
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To: Cronos

McDonalds sees the writing on the wall.

Leftists are killing entry level jobs, furthering their goal of turning kids into, fat, compliant sheep dependent on the state.


48 posted on 07/18/2018 4:17:18 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: Enlightened1

What is 4G? much less 5G. One, count em, 1G is the limit around here, and you’d be lucky to get it. Some areas around here are still using dial-up as the only option.


49 posted on 07/18/2018 4:17:50 AM PDT by Beagle8U (Liberals can kiss my bitter clingers!)
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To: Cronos

Now if they could keep the yutes from spitting in the food they’d have something.


50 posted on 07/18/2018 4:18:06 AM PDT by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, that's how you sell clothing.)
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To: cba123

The last time I was in a McDonalds, they were aggressively pushing the kiosks. When I went toward a cashier station, I was intercepted by a floor worker and taken to a kiosk and shown how to use it, felt a little like they thought I was an idiot.


51 posted on 07/18/2018 4:23:24 AM PDT by Truth29
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To: snarkytart

They’ll have people on site to help. Some of the fast food joints near where my mother lived had computers instead of cashiers. But they had managers going back and forth among them, helping customers.


52 posted on 07/18/2018 4:23:58 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: All

Well I was gonna be snarky and say “goodbye to rude cashiers”, but the truth is, the last 3 or 4 times I’ve gone (and I rarely go), all the cashiers have been very nice, competent and accommodating.....now I only go for breakfast, so maybe the “B” team comes in for lunch...


53 posted on 07/18/2018 4:25:57 AM PDT by Maverick68
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To: cynwoody

Heh, I had a patient once who was a bit off, and she became so unhinged at my putting a clean, laundered sheet on an exam table, demanding a new, unused one that had never been washed, that she refused to let me treat her and demanded to see my boss.

I had the patient sit in a chair while I went to get my boss, and when she came in to talk to the patient, the woman demanded a new sheet for the table (not a laundered one) because “someone lay on those laundered sheets before her”.

My boss, who was quite good, looked thoughtfully at the sitting woman, and said “Well, someone sat in that chair you are sitting in before you sat in it...”

At which the woman leaped from the chair like a scalded cat!

I audibly choked trying to keep from laughing!

Point is, people get a little crazy about this. The cleanliness of your own hands, and what you do with them in a clean/unclean situation, is your own responsibility. If we get some super bug that wipes people out, lemme tell you...it’s gonna get you, touch screen or not!


54 posted on 07/18/2018 4:26:11 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: SkyPilot

“We are fight for $15”

“McJobs hurt us all”

Well, except for the young people trying to get experience in the workplace and make a few bucks to try and buy a car and gas for it.

So much stupidity in such a small picture.


55 posted on 07/18/2018 4:30:24 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: Bob434
"...because fast food workers frequently have to wash their hands while customers don’t-..."

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe!

56 posted on 07/18/2018 4:32:40 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: snarkytart

McDonalds has a very large lunch trade that eats indoors.

The kiosks will absorb some of the line traffic at the cash registers.

You get a numbered receipt and pick up when the number is called. For regular customers, it will be a speedup in the lunch process.

The process is already obsolete in China. Rather than a kiosk, the customer has a bank ap that has a Mcdonalds ap The order is entered on your phone and automatically paid.

There are some attempts here but not universal as it will be


57 posted on 07/18/2018 4:33:00 AM PDT by bert ((K. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... In our cities will be burning))
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To: Cronos

Kiosk controlled robots spit hydraulic oil into the fast food.


58 posted on 07/18/2018 4:35:39 AM PDT by Cvengr ( Adversity in life & death is inevitable; Stress is optional through faith in Christ.)
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To: snarkytart

who eats INSIDE a fast food place anyway?


Lots of people. Seems like all McDonalds’s restaurants have undergone significant makeovers recently, including the interior and menu. Their coffee is good and relatively inexpensive. Gotta love those bottomless drinks too.


59 posted on 07/18/2018 4:36:00 AM PDT by rbg81 (Truth is stranger than fiction)
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To: Cronos

Trust me, the leaders of the Left know FULL WELL that this would be the outcome. They are NOT STUPID, so let’s get past that assumption, shall we.

The Leftists also know that their voters are STUPID and that it would never occur to them that they’re voting themselves out of work...but that’s life, I guess.

Anyway, the less contact I have with people, especially today’s public-school types, the better. And the kiosks work great in other countries, where you can (usually, but not always) select English as an option and not have to do a bunch of arm-waving.


60 posted on 07/18/2018 4:44:11 AM PDT by BobL (I drive a pick up truck because it makes me feel like a man)
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