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!
How about wage and price controls? We haven’t seen that since Carter.
I doubt we’d see that under a Republican administration and Obama only has 250ish days left in office. If Hillary or Bernie wins? Yeah, that’s definitely a next step.
My 18 YO son landed his first ever job at a fast food place. He’s been there 6 weeks and has already got two promotions and two raises. He comes home and tells me how many other employees were fired today and why (fists fights between employees in the lobby, sleeping through their entire shift out back in the car, drinking liquor out of a soda glass while on duty, etc.). Just astonishing to me. Unfortunately for this restaurant, he’s already learned the life lesson intended and is actively planning on his escape.
I think too that our economy has indeed changed; away from manufacturing. I remember progressives and Democrats telling us how great a “service” economy would be.
Unfortunately, service jobs don’t typically pay a lot.
Perfect. While there is still a chance to change and adapt, every kid should work in a terrible job as incentive for something better.
The path to success is not easy and requires a great deal of hard work and patience and an experience like a terrible, thankless job is invaluable.
How many Rats do you think will admit this Shame?
I doubt cash will exist in 5 years, because we have the technology to replace it. People only use cash now when the they have to otherwise it is swipe a card or smart device.
But who’s going to spit in my food if it’s made by robots?
Agreed. But that would mean that everyone would be required to carry a means of paying electronically. A credit card or a debit card can be hard to obtain for some. Especially kids or people with bad credit.
It makes sense that cash would be a thing of the past. But it isn’t clear how it would happen.
Yes! The surly attitudes of those behind the counter, and the fear of what would happen to your food if you call them out on it, prevents me from going too often. I do like Subway, because you can watch them make your food.
The Powers That be encouraged shipping good-paying jobs overseas, replacing our well-paid techies with H1Bs, and winked at cheap illegal labor pouring across our border.
Result: A hollowed out middle class, too many educated young people for too few well-paid jobs. What to do? Raise the wages of low-paid unskilled jobs.
Been working for years, so now that's the only alternative.
I’ve been to several Mc Donald’s where they have truly improved customer service; smiling and attentive staff, table flags & bringing slower orders to your table, table visits for ketchup, other. In Canada, they have Build Your Own Burger (with good options like pepper cheese and grilled onions) touchscreen kiosks, including payment, table flags and your order brought to your table. They check your satisfaction, and will even get ice cream for ya.
Exactly. But it can’t sustain itself. Merit based increases make sense. Across the board, everyone gets one, doesn’t.
I’m all for removing a lot of the human element, especially when it comes to ordering. I have a hearing problem which makes it extremely difficult to separate a conversation out from competing background noise, and there is so much background noise in today’s restaurants. Add to that the endless choices of ordering (white, or whole-wheat, large, medium or small, what dressings, toppings, etc, etc). It’s become impossible to simply tell a waitperson or microphone a simple item, no, there must be endless variation based on the waitperson’s spiel. If I could simply push a button indicating my choices, I would be much happier. Don’t even get me started about ubiquitous music and television blaring in the restaurants. Unless I order online for takeout, dining out has become a miserable experience for me.
First company to make a pizza delivery drone is going to make a load of money.
They'll just keep making better idiots.
Yep.
earn a living wage ($12/hour ....Is that a living wage for a person who lives at his parent’s house and takes a bus (or less likely walks) to work or is a living wage for someone who rents an apartment (or God forbid pays a mortgage)has children and needs a vehicle to fullfill his obligations? I’m cornfused. Is this Socialism writ large?
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