Robots will replace fast-food workers

[mmntech]

You also need people to clean the restrooms when someone violently explodes on the toilet, someone to refill the ice/syrup for coke machines, etc.

I think a major reduction for in-store staff is possible, but complete elimination seems unlikely.

This is true, but eliminating all the kitchen staff basically cuts your payroll in half.

The thing with fast food jobs is they were never intended to be permanent work. I get the impression that McD's execs still feel the same way. When I was a kid, it was only teenagers and college students working in those places. You might have seen the occasional bored retiree. Lack of higher paying low skill factory work has perpetuated the problem today. Not to mention a lack of skilled labour and professional jobs, that have driven a lot of educated people into the low wage service industry.

On the flip side, a lot of these people seem to lack the ambition to better themselves beyond flipping burgers. If you can't even bother your behind to get your high school diploma, don't be surprised if job opportunities are limited.

It's also worth noting that while there are still some higher paying unskilled jobs (construction), it's actually hard to find North Americans to actually fill them. That's a big part of why you see so many Portuguese and Mexicans on job sites. North American born people either never apply, or only stick around long enough to be eligible to collect unemployment. When I worked in construction, this was a constant problem for the company. You don't want high turnaround because you actually do need people who know what they're doing. That's why they turn to immigrant labourers. Those labourers make good money as a result.

 

[Ns1]

This is true, but eliminating all the kitchen staff basically cuts your payroll in half.

no arguments here. I fully expect kitchen staff + cashiers to be eliminated or highly reduced.

 

[kyrax12]

Can't wait for a Battlestar Galactica scenario to occur.

 

[Ns1]

Chase knows the future:

 

[Pulsar]

Those who ignore plight and prefer to see themselves as above it all often say this sort of thing. King Louis XVI perhaps?

I invite you to P&N to discuss the declining value of labor, the growing legion of unemployed, and what our response should be. It is not fear to recognize something and seek to address it. Fear is what happens if you do not address it and the people become hungry. Bon Appétit.

I rest my case.

 

[Mai72]

Chase knows the future:

They sure do...

 

[Mai72]

Pulsar,

My response is this. When you start eliminating jobs you are going to have big issues. The poor are going to swell and are going to be dependent on the government. I'm sorry but not everybody is good at math and science. Taxes are going to increase and the middle class will shoulder the burden. The more you make the more you will be taxed. The upper middle class are going to be taxed the most. Everybody here who makes upper 5 or lower 6 digit incomes I hope you like taking it in the behind.

 

[Imp]

no arguments here. I fully expect kitchen staff + cashiers to be eliminated or highly reduced.

Oh, you don't need to do that...

Some fast food restaurants in Canada are importing temporary workers from abroad with the government's approval and making them live in a unit where the owner's the landlord or lease holder. This way, they get the worker and collect a nice chunk of their paycheck back.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I've seen ideas for medication dispensers to replace pharmacists. That's a pretty high qualification job. Guess you would still need them there in case there were questions but a busy pharmacy could reduce the staff to 1 pharmacist and 1 tech.

You are two decades late.

 

[Paul98]

Remove the low paying jobs with automation and who will buy the over priced shit that they sell?

 

[squarecut1]

Oh, you don't need to do that...

Some fast food restaurants in Canada are importing temporary workers from abroad with the government's approval and making them live in a unit where the owner's the landlord or lease holder. This way, they get the worker and collect a nice chunk of their paycheck back.

Oh wow.....

 

[Jeff7]

I'm honestly surprised they haven't done this already.

They see money, I see a legion of unemployed.

If it comes quickly, perhaps. We've already automated a lot of jobs.
Cars, circuitboards, food....even simple things like toothbrushes. Could you get a toothbrush for under a dollar if it was handmade on an assembly line of people? (A person who is not living in a developing nation.) There are "lights-out" factories that can operate for extended periods of time without the need for people on the shop floor.

Guess we're nearing Wall-E type way of living pretty soon. Sad that very few are aware of this. We're all too happy with our computers, gadgets, toys and little entertainments.

But look at where we used to be. We're already there. We've been there for many, many decades.

I've never had to face a large predator, hand-to-claw. I've never lost a relative due to an infection caused by a lack of knowledge of hygiene. Nor have I ever had to wonder if I was going to go without food for a day for anything other than my own choosing to do so. I don't have to worry about dying of disease from drinking water.

I work at a job that is not inherently dangerous, inexpensive food sits on shelves in abundance, clean water is piped to my house and it can be heated, I live within a few miles of urgent care medical facilities as well as two hospitals with airlift capability, a machine automatically keeps my house warm in the winter, and I own a sophisticated machine that allows me to quickly travel hundreds of miles in a matter of hours.
We already use technology to cater to us in many ways.

Our ancient ancestors may have worshiped people like us. Or they may kill us out of fear of something so alien.

 

[Phoenix86]

LOL protesting themselves right into unemployment. Flip those burgers, bitch.

Yet another billionaire willing to feed/house/cloth an increasing welfare population.

We should really form a group to identify these fine contributors to society. The burden they are willing to bear for such statements is truly amazing.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh wow.....

Yeah the TFW program is VERY bad.

Last year Royal Bank fired all their IT staff to replace them with TFW's. But before firing them, they made them train their replacements. Lot of people including myself switched banks over that. Given the big banks are all evil I just went to a local credit union. McDonald's is now on the spot light for the TFW program but in reality so many companies are using it including the biggest Canadian icon: Tim Hortons. Sad really.

Harper has to go.

 

[Leros]

I'm guessing a McDonald's griddle worker does something like: places a frozen patty on the griddle, presses a button, waits for the beep, and puts the patty somewhere else. That's practically automated already. It's just currently cheaper to hire a minimum wage worker than design and deploy a robot.

As robots get cheaper, it seems inevitable that such repetitive jobs will be replaced with machines.

 

[Larnz]

I'm sure they'll all become engineers and surgeons now that their fast food avenue is cut off.

Why does everyone assume that because someone is working at a fast food place that is because they are dumb or lazy? I worked in Mcdonlads to get some cash while in highschool and the first few years of my degree. I now obviously don't work there since finishing uni and joining the work force in my desired industry but assuming that everyone who works in a fast food place is dumb or stuck there for the rest of eternity makes you sound stupid.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I wonder if there was this much angst about jobs that were automated during the 20th century?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Anyone see a downward spiral about to happen? Say you replace 10% of the populations jobs with robots. Where are those 10% supposed to go for jobs? New jobs don't just magically appear. Sure sure you can go to school blah blah etc etc, but that still doesn't mean there are jobs, let alone jobs they will actually want to do or be good at.

Ok so 5% of those people got different jobs, but wait, they found a way to replace 20% of the populations jobs with robots...etc etc.

On a slightly different angle, it would be interesting to know how the richest people in the world got where they are. When I say that, I mean, who did they step on, betray, etc etc to rise to where they are. I would imagine very few got there truly because of their own hard work and virtues. Many we already know got where they are by some of the lowest methods you can think of to eliminate competition, threats, back alley deals, etc.

 

[Leros]

Why does everyone assume that because someone is working at a fast food place that is because they are dumb or lazy? I worked in Mcdonlads to get some cash while in highschool and the first few years of my degree. I now obviously don't work there since finishing uni and joining the work force in my desired industry but assuming that everyone who works in a fast food place is dumb or stuck there for the rest of eternity makes you sound stupid.

I think it's regional, possibly even at the granularity of neighborhoods.

Go to a nice suburban area and a fast food place will be staffed by teenagers. Go to a less nice area and a fast food place will be staffed by 20-40 year olds.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't really care if the workers are smart or not, at least they're doing something with their lives and have a job, and not sitting in mom's basement past the age of 30 doing absolutely nothing with their life.

Not everyone wants to work a high end job that requires lot of schooling and stuff, some people are happy doing a braindead job and have a simple enough life that the pay is enough for them to be happy.

Getting rid of these jobs screws over tons of people who arn't in a position to try to find a higher end job.

Higher end jobs are also more rare than unskilled jobs. Lot of people who are smart may be working there because they can't find anything else and are still waiting for something to come up that's in their field.

 

[Ruptga]

I wonder if there was this much angst about jobs that were automated during the 20th century?

Oh yeah. For just a couple quick examples, see

Technological unemployment is unemployment primarily caused by technological change. Given that technological change generally increases productivity, it is a tenet held in economics since the 19th century that technological change, although it disrupts the careers of individuals and the health of particular firms, produces opportunities for the creation of new, unrelated jobs. The notion of technological unemployment leading to structural unemployment (and being macroeconomically injurious) is often called the Luddite fallacy, named after the early historical example of the Luddites.

and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite
and

Modern socialism originated from an 18th-century intellectual and working class political movement that criticised the effects of industrialisation and private property on society. The revival of republicanism in the American Revolution of 1776 and the egalitarian values introduced by the French Revolution of 1789 gave rise to socialism as a distinct political movement. In the early 19th century, "socialism" referred to any concern for the social problems of capitalism irrespective of the solutions to those problems.

 

[John Connor]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technology/innovation/fast-food-robot/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

- Faced with a $15 wage mandate, restaurants have to reduce the cost of service

- Chili's and Applebee's to place tablets on their tables, allowing diners to order and pay without interacting with human wait staff at all.


if chilli's/applebee's does that, then do you need to tip?

I was at a chilli's with the tablet on the table and you can pay with a tip. The server still has to bring you your food and drink and you can order another round right from the tablet. The tablet also has USA Today news and some dumb games. I'm surprised On The Border doesn't do this as I believe they are part of the same company as chilli's.

 

[Phoenix86]

I wonder if there was this much angst about jobs that were automated during the 20th century?

I thought about that earlier. Manufacturing automation was huge, there were massive gains in productivity. We won't see these society wide gains by getting our McDs 20 seconds sooner.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technology/innovation/fast-food-robot/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

- Faced with a $15 wage mandate, restaurants have to reduce the cost of service

- Chili's and Applebee's to place tablets on their tables, allowing diners to order and pay without interacting with human wait staff at all.


if chilli's/applebee's does that, then do you need to tip?

If full service restaurants do this, they will go under. People go out for the experience, not the food. If they really do this, they will have to cut prices to be just over those of Burger King.

 

[PliotronX]

Yet another billionaire willing to feed/house/cloth an increasing welfare population.

We should really form a group to identify these fine contributors to society. The burden they are willing to bear for such statements is truly amazing.

Good lord, I just don't think unskilled labor should pay as much as an entry level information based job. If they are really unhappy with their jobs and pay, they really need to become educated or relocate, simple as that. The people who are "stuck" in fast food or retail are not applying themselves. Protesting in an industry that is not unionized is a recipe for disaster.