McDonald's ex-CEO just revealed a terrifying reality for fast-food workers

[Svnla]

Look like there will be a big shock for the fast food employees. Stay tuned.

"It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making $15 an hour bagging french fries," former McDonald's USA CEO Ed Rensi said in an interview on Tuesday on the Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria." "It's nonsense and it's very destructive and it's inflationary and it's going to cause a job loss across this country like you're not going to believe."

http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-ex-ceo-takes-on-minimum-wage-2016-5

 

[master_shake_]

fuck me...

the world hates people on minimum wage...

but robots have been painting cars for years... he makes a valid point.

 

[JSt0rm]

15x40x50 = 30k a year

10x40x50 = 20k a year

Robot arm costs 35k

Not sure why they wouldn't do the robot arms at 10 a hour. They would make the money back in 2 years.

 

[MongGrel]

Not sure why this thing keeps getting posted all over to begin with.

A robotic arm would run 24/7 just for starters, of course ...

I'm just off to elsewhere.

 

[theeedude]

15x40x50 = 30k a year

10x40x50 = 20k a year

Robot arm costs 35k

Not sure why they wouldn't do the robot arms at 10 a hour. They would make the money back in 2 years.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36376966

Foxconn replaces '60,000 factory workers with robots'

Even $2/hr labor can't compete with robots. The argument that if minimum wage was lower, humans would be cheaper than robots is just bunk.

 

[HumblePie]

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36376966

Even $2/hr labor can't compete with robots. The argument that if minimum wage was lower, humans would be cheaper than robots is just bunk.

when it comes to simple repetitive behavior then robotic arms are cheaper. Still there is a maintenance cost involved as well as the skilled knowledge for keeping them up, which those more skilled jobs cost more to fulfill. Lucky it doesn't take as many people to service robot arms as it would have to pay people to put fries into a cup.

the other thing to remember, is that most people working there aren't just putting fries into a cup all day. They are cleaning, cooking, moving inventory, and interacting with customers. A robotic arm is just doing 1 job only.

 

[elitejp]

$15/hr minimum wage certainly will encourage businesses to try other methods to run a business that don't require workers.

The good thing is that a robot arm isn't spitting in my food, or urinating in the sauce or not washing their hands after using the restroom.
A robot arm also isn't texting friends while working, not showing up for work on time, stealing etc.

Not to say all low skilled workers are like this or that robotics won't have their own problems but 15 an hr is ridiculous and businesses will find a different solution

 

[Pulsar]

It simply isn't as easy as folks make it out to be to set up robots and make them run right. I'm in a location with numerous robots, and the special skillset it takes to program, troubleshoot, and repair those robots is pretty large.

I see these things being automated - but not necessarily with robots.

I can see a single person loading cartridges of frozen burgers, and filling hoppers with frozen nuggets, that dispense onto belts that go through flash-heating on conveyors. Giant containers of auto-dispensing condiments.

This has been going on since 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyrav_9Pbsc

Disclaimer: I spent more time trying to see down the video girl's blouse than I did looking at the pizza.

 

[trenchfoot]

There are some tasks that robots are good for. Selling things over the counter isn't one of them. Especially when the product(s) being offered require customizing or requires an explanation that a robot, at the present, cannot answer satisfactorily.

Among a host of other problematic situations dealing with sketchy software/hardware, I refuse to wait in a line where some folks aren't capable of successfully manipulating a bunch of selection buttons or cannot speak plainly enough to have the voice recognition app process their request correctly.

While waiting in line to buy groceries, on occasion I see some folks nearby getting flustered and frustrated attempting to order some prints in different sizes from a photo kiosk while people behind them roll their eyes in disgust, and don't even try get me talking about standing in line behind a person who has difficulty getting $20 out of an ATM.

Apps and hardware developed for selling and serving food, especially when the POS requires cash and coin is something I won't go near until the machine can politely tell me that I have a piece of lettuce stuck between my teeth, or bruskly tell someone to get out of line because they're taking too long to order their meal.

 

[Rhonda the Sly]

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36376966

Even $2/hr labor can't compete with robots. The argument that if minimum wage was lower, humans would be cheaper than robots is just bunk.

A related Ars Technica piece has this bit:

When pressed, Rensi admitted that he thinks "franchising businesses" like fast-food restaurants are already hurtling toward automation, saying that those businesses are "dependent on people who have low job skills that need to grow. If you can't get people a reasonable wage, you're gonna get machines to do the work. It's just common sense. It's going to happen whether you like it or not." He then insisted that an increased minimum wage will make robotic worker adoption "just happen faster."

Doesn't seem like anyone disagrees in the long term that low end labor will be much less desirable.

 

[Jaskalas]

A related Ars Technica piece has this bit:
Doesn't seem like anyone disagrees in the long term that low end labor will be much less desirable.

Less desirable at first, but ultimately non existent.
And to service those robots? Better have a bachelors in computer science and 5+ years experience. And starting at $10/hr would be grand. :wub:

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

We'll have robots to service those robots. The entirety of human labor is on the verge of becoming redundant. This should be a great thing.

 

[Harabec]

This is why the move to a global basic income with people working\studying as they see fit is the future.
"work" is meaningless when it is used ONLY for production when automation can do it better. Mankind will have to figure out how to stay interested in life and how to better the community while robots do all the hard work.
American society will probably have a hard time adjusting because you seem to view work as something you HAVE to do to mean anything to yourself and to others, instead of a means to an end - a hobby, family, studies, arts...

 

[boomerang]

Regardless of the long term ramifications of the move to robotics, it's important to remember that the policies and ideology of Democrats are greatly hastening the process. Entry level jobs should pay entry level wages and they could for a long time going forward. But Democrats in their typical misguided fashion have decided that it's better to put huge numbers of people out of work right now. No easing into it over many decades while adjustments are made and policies are changed. Nope, votes are needed right now and the people and the economy be damned.

It will all be blamed on evil conservatives and the poorly educated will lap that right up.

 

[werepossum]

when it comes to simple repetitive behavior then robotic arms are cheaper. Still there is a maintenance cost involved as well as the skilled knowledge for keeping them up, which those more skilled jobs cost more to fulfill. Lucky it doesn't take as many people to service robot arms as it would have to pay people to put fries into a cup.

the other thing to remember, is that most people working there aren't just putting fries into a cup all day. They are cleaning, cooking, moving inventory, and interacting with customers. A robotic arm is just doing 1 job only.

Well said. Although it is sad that this even needs to be said.

$15/hr minimum wage certainly will encourage businesses to try other methods to run a business that don't require workers.

The good thing is that a robot arm isn't spitting in my food, or urinating in the sauce or not washing their hands after using the restroom.
A robot arm also isn't texting friends while working, not showing up for work on time, stealing etc.

Not to say all low skilled workers are like this or that robotics won't have their own problems but 15 an hr is ridiculous and businesses will find a different solution

A robot arm also won't stop to wash off the rat guts from the rat it crushes because the rat got a bit too complacent, or throw out a batch because of feces from the rats who weren't too complacent. Just sayin. Lol

It simply isn't as easy as folks make it out to be to set up robots and make them run right. I'm in a location with numerous robots, and the special skillset it takes to program, troubleshoot, and repair those robots is pretty large.

I see these things being automated - but not necessarily with robots.

I can see a single person loading cartridges of frozen burgers, and filling hoppers with frozen nuggets, that dispense onto belts that go through flash-heating on conveyors. Giant containers of auto-dispensing condiments.

This has been going on since 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyrav_9Pbsc

Disclaimer: I spent more time trying to see down the video girl's blouse than I did looking at the pizza.

lol +1

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Another cost of automating fast food is the particular niche they fill in business. They teach many youts how to work and how to interact with customers. These soft skills are more important than most realize.

 

[waggy]

Another cost of automating fast food is the particular niche they fill in business. They teach many youts how to work and how to interact with customers. These soft skills are more important than most realize.

I have said before these type of jobs are for high school or college kids. They are starter jobs where kids learn the responsibility of having a job. unfortunately it seems like many decided to just work at fast food to support families and are mad it's not working.

I feel sorry for the youth today that want jobs. At nearly every fast food place the counter is staffed with 30+yr old's.

 

[Brovane]

Between the minimum wage increases at the City/State Level and the changes in OT laws at the Federal level a lot of stories have come out about businesses screaming the sky is falling etc. However this always seems to happen when any new regulation comes out.

 

[1prophet]

They are trying to sell you this fantasy

When in actuality you are getting this reality

Robots are great for repetitive tasks in a predefined controlled environment, but are being portrayed as some sort of panacea by many today just like the personal computer and the internet were portrayed as the answer to all our problems back in the 90's.

 

[1prophet]

Between the minimum wage increases at the City/State Level and the changes in OT laws at the Federal level a lot of stories have come out about businesses screaming the sky is falling etc. However this always seems to happen when any new regulation comes out.

That cartoon lost it's relevancy when outsourcing and globalization took over, it's to bad that many still pretend to believe in those ideals but don't think twice about buying goods or services made in countries where those rules and regulations are little to none existent.

 

[mikeymikec]

Mankind will have to figure out how to stay interested in life and how to better the community while robots do all the hard work.

Ha!

And the house of cards called capitalism which we all depend on for everything from the absolute necessities to luxuries, this will be dismantled and replaced when, and with what, exactly?

There are far too many vested interests in capitalism for it to disappear at any point soon.

---

Re: OP - I'm wondering how McDonalds feels about the idea of laying off minimum wage staff, to transfer that money into technological investment as well as paying for a fat contract to an IT company to maintain the bread and butter of their empire, and the shift of power involved in such a transaction as well as the difficulty of cutting that supplier loose and going with another one. Unless McDonalds wants to try and branch out into the automation business itself?

 

[Chiropteran]

Robots are great for repetitive tasks in a predefined controlled environment, but are being portrayed as some sort of panacea by many today just like the personal computer and the internet were portrayed as the answer to all our problems back in the 90's.

Oh, so you think robots might merely be as successful as computers & the internet.

 

[glenn1]

Another cost of automating fast food is the particular niche they fill in business. They teach many youts how to work and how to interact with customers. These soft skills are more important than most realize.

I don't give a damn about youts, especially ones in the inner city where fast food is one of the major employers. Either progressives are right and we can raise the minimum wage without adversely impacting their employment prospects, or conservatives are right and robots will operating the McDonald's down on MLK Blvd in the ghetto side of town.

Whoever wins, it's a pointless victory anyway. Those youts aren't going on to be the next CEOs of the world. The inner city is a failed culture filled with failed institutions that we as a society have neither the capability or willingness to fix - see inner city schools.

 

[PokerGuy]

I don't think the push for absurdly higher wages for menial work is not the driving factor for automation, but it's certainly going to help push it along faster. That much is not in doubt.

To the OP, Svnla, what makes you think this is a "terrifying" reality for many of those impacted? They'll simply be on the government dole for free stuff instead of having to work for their money. That prospect is terrifying to those with initiative, but not to those without.....

 

[waggy]

They are trying to sell you this fantasy

When in actuality you are getting this reality

Robots are great for repetitive tasks in a predefined controlled environment, but are being portrayed as some sort of panacea by many today just like the personal computer and the internet were portrayed as the answer to all our problems back in the 90's.

rofl. you aren't being honest either. nobody is talking about just a robotic arm cooking the food on a griddle.

you can build a machine that makes a burger with specifications. they are already made.

http://www.businessinsider.com/momentum-machines-burger-robot-2014-8


It wouldn't be much to make the few burgers on menu and have it hooked up to a koisk.

As for fries I have seen places where they are pretty much automated anyway. only thing a person does is put the bag of fries in the top and take out the cooked ones and dump it into the fry bin.

while i don't think you can replace the entire store you can replace a good majority of it.