Posted on 05/13/2016 6:18:04 AM PDT by TigerClaws
Remember when conservatives dared to suggest that raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15.00/hour would force businesses to cut staff and would hasten the replacement of those workers with automated systems?
Well, Wendy’s just proved us right and announced that they’re rolling out self-service kiosks “nationwide” to their 6000 stores later this year:
And once kiosks are in place, those jobs are never coming back. From Investor’s Business Daily:
Wendy’s Penegor said company-operated stores, only about 10% of the total, are seeing wage inflation of 5% to 6%, driven both by the minimum wage and some by the need to offer a competitive wage “to access good labor.”
It’s not surprising that some franchisees might face more of a labor-cost squeeze than company restaurants. All 258 Wendy’s restaurants in California, where the minimum wage rose to $10 an hour this year and will gradually rise to $15, are franchise-operated. Likewise, about 75% of 200-plus restaurants in New York are run by franchisees. New York’s fast-food industry wage rose to $10.50 in New York City and $9.75 in the rest of the state at the start of 2016, also on the way to $15.
This will eventually happen at every fast-food restaurant in America thanks to even the threat of a minimum wage hike. Great job, Dems!
The next move by the progressives will be to outlaw automated fast food restaurants. You heard it here first.
I worked in fast food restaurant as a teenager. Minimum wage was 1.25.
After the first summer I applied at factories for summer work. The next summer I started at 3.15 an hour. I was rolling in cash.
Agreed. Times have changed. Even more frustrating when the person taking your order can’t speak English very well.
The person at the counter is the company front line and their job is partly marketing and sales and party service.
Agreed. Sounds like a very good business decision for a fast food restaurant.
FF employees are notorious for being irresponsible — showing up late, not showing up at all — and the job environment is structured around this chaos. The employer doesn’t expect much from the employee and so the employee is not reliable and the rare employee who does excel doesn’t get the credit for the hard work.
Not an issue with machines. Machines are very punctual, consistent and reliable.
In this context, a self service kiosk is a display at which customers can place orders without interacting with a person. The display has a graphical representation of the menu items. the customer chooses, then taps the next button, and chooses from that subset of the menu, and so on, until the order is complete, then it is submitted. Kind of like ordering over the internet.
Just Obama’s solution to getting more people ‘on the Dole’ and beholden to the Dems. Nothing to see here, move along.
The fly in that ointment will be the number of fast food customers who are too illiterate to use the kiosk.
My prediction is that food costs soar, due to waste generated by a spike in customers placing incorrect orders.
——This will eventually happen at every fast-food restaurant ——
Actually it will not. It is technology that is already obsolete
the cash registers will be replaced by phone aps that utilize bots that provide interactive menus that are connected to the individual customers pay bot. The order bot transmits the order and the interactive pay bot pays the bill. the order is entered, already paid for.
The system is working well and very widely used in China. Wendy’s and America is very far behind on this simple technology
“and some by the need to offer a competitive wage “to access good labor.”
Translation: English Speaking Labor.
Calling some of these "workers" human, may be a stretch.
Sacks of protoplasm with bad attitudes would be better.
And not unlike using a smart phone or tablet computer.
The problem is, the bad labor will stay home and collect welfare.
Yet, another phone app to install on my phone.
“Do you ever get a less-than-welcome feeling from those behind the counter when you order your burger combo?”
That happens at lots of eaterys. I have to point out NEVER has happened (yet) at an In-N-Out. They must have every one of those kids on happy pills.
Pithy, memorable political phrases are worth their weight in gold, and “the real minimum wage is $0.00” is a perfect example. That’s something that should be adopted and hammered by Republicans right across the board because it is unanswerable.
The human contact is the worst part of most retail experiences, not just restaurants. To many retail employees, the customer is an inconvenience to be endured if they cannot ignore completely.
Actually, the kiosks will probably show pictures of the food and no words.
For example, a meal deal with a large fry and large drink, will show a large drink, large fries, sandwich and the international standard for arrows will be used navigate from page to page. The tricky part will be paying but most people can swipe their card — just flash a picture of a credit card. Cash might be trickier.
It should be fairly idiot proof.
Absolutely Agree, but I wonder about something. Look at Chic-Fil-A ... the customer experience there is one of the positive driving forces, where Wendy’s and MacD are finding it is a negative driving force. Somehow it is “who” you hire, I think.
It’s not really “fast food” but I have to give my local Steak and Shake store high marks in that regard.
Most of their staff is under 22. Whenever I walk in they are always happy, cheerful, and working their tails off.
You just don’t see that with a lot of young people these days.
I bet things would change if a certain class of low skilled worker were to leave and go home.
welcom to mah wendies may ah help’ewwww?
no problem
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