Andy Puzder, the CEO of fast-food chain Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, is exploring automation as a solution for rising labor costs due to the recent arbitrary increases in minimum wages across the country. He has revealed plans to explore employee-free restaurants “where you order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person.”
Puzder explained, “With government driving up the cost of labor, it’s driving down the number of jobs…You’re going to see automation not just in airports and grocery stores, but in restaurants… If you’re making labor more expensive, and automation less expensive — this is not rocket science.”
Puzder is not alone in viewing automation as the future of his restaurants. Applebee’s, Chili’s, and McDonald’s are all exploring the option already in use by a popular, growing new chain. Via the Washington Policy Center:
“One of the nation’s fastest growing new fast-food restaurants has modeled its business on the automated dining experience. Eatsa restaurants, which was recently named one of the most influential brands in the restaurant industry by Nation’s Restaurant News, serves up custom-made quinoa bowls with zero human interaction. Customers order and pay from a kiosk, human workers assemble the bowls behind a wall and orders are placed in glass cubbies with light up when ready. So while the process relies on human workers to cook the food, the customers never interact, or even see, a human. The automated process allows Eatsa to handle 300 to 400 customers an hour during peak times.”
According to Eatsa, the automated system allows them to provide “better food, faster, and at an unprecedented price of just $6.95.”
The change as a result of minimum wages as high as $15 per hour should come as no surprise. After all, this is a repeat of what happened in France. After the country hiked minimum wages, fast food companies responded by installing automated service machines and people lost their jobs.
And yet liberals like Nick Hanauer, David Rolf, etc., continue to claim that higher minimum wages won’t result in job losses. Of course, it’s not their job that will be lost, so what do they care?
After the country hiked minimum wages, fast food companies responded by installing automated service machines and people lost their jobs.
So, how many skilled, higher-wage jobs were created for the designers, builders, installers, and maintainers of this automation?
“So, how many skilled, higher-wage jobs were created for the designers, builders, installers, and maintainers of this automation?”
Probably not that many because, except for maintenance, you don’t have to buy the machine every two weeks for the rest of your life. How is that helping unskilled minimum wage employees? You know, the downtrodden slaves holding the red 15 (not right) NOW signs with the comrade shaking his fist on them. Are they suddenly going to get a major upgrade to their skillsets?
Maybe your blowhard billionaire commissar will make the equipment in North Carolina where he can still pay poverty wages until the government mandates he give out raises.
Probably not that many because, except for maintenance,
Wrong again. If the automation units aren’t produced in appreciable numbers, per-unit costs for procurement and maintenance will be far higher than the savings from eliminating the minimum wage jobs, so the trade off here is some unknown number of unskilled jobs for some unknown number of higher-paying skilled jobs. That’s a risk capitalism has had long before Winston Churchill, MP, was advocating for a minimum wage in Britain.
If the machines are made in the same place as the computer you posted your idiotic comment from, then the wages/salaries are a lot lower. If made domestically, once the design is complete, the production line for the machines is located in a right to work state that doesn’t have as high a minimum wage as Seattle. But take into consideration that the skill level to design the automation and construct the assembly line is higher than entry level workers that used to flip burgers get. And there won’t be as many positions to design and build the automation as employed all of the fast food workers being displaced. And your statement about ” some unknown number of unskilled jobs for some unknown number of higher-paying skilled jobs” is just a typical liberal, secular-progressive non-sequitur… making no sense whatsoever.
If you’d read the post, you’d might have seen that Eatsa employs plenty of actual human workers. It also hints the minimum wage had nothing to do with why the automation was installed:
The automated process allows Eatsa to handle 300 to 400 customers an hour during peak times.
Eliminating the bottleneck of low-skilled order takers allows them to focus on their core product. Thus, their overall payroll may actually be higher than if they hadn’t installed the automation.
As always, your fact-free and wholly speculative response Serves primarily to vent your endless spluttering rage — this time against liberals, talented workers, and high wages; three topics of which you’re understandably very envious.
That’s just what your surmise form your own biases. Automation employed in more ways in more facets of business reduces the need for people to employed in low skilled and even highly skilled jobs. Kiosks replace cashiers in fast food outlets, GPS based air traffic control systems with components installed on each aircraft in constant touch with each other in flight, will significantly reduce the number of highly paid air traffic controllers. That’s more than mere speculation, it’s the evolution of business and technology. However, as the cost of personnel in unskilled and low skilled position increase due to demands by government on business regarding wages, benefits, scheduling, etc., the fewer jobs there will be for unskilled and low skilled workers.
Now, tensie, keep living in your little liberal, secular-progressive dream world, that always appeals to the lowest common denominator, get all the free stuff you can without putting out any effort or contributing to society, just like old, age onset dementia Bernie Sanders keeps promoting. His initials are appropriate… he’s full of BS!
“Automation employed in more ways in more facets of business reduces the need for people to employed in low skilled and even highly skilled jobs.”
Yes, that’s called, “the Industrial Revolution,” and it’s been going on for about a quarter of a millennium now. Glad to see you’ve heard of it.
“… will significantly reduce the number of highly paid air traffic controllers.”
Decades of increasing automation have now led to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
How’d we get to having a shortage of something you say we don’t need?
Typical of you and your liberal, secular-progressive ilk… take it all out of context. Put the fast food workers demanding $15/hour up against the advancing automation in the industry that will replace the unskilled and low skilled entry level jobs.
I worked in for the FAA for 25 years and have a background in aviation that goes back to the late 1960’s… I have seen first hand the changes made in ATC to reduce the need for Air Traffic Controllers and know that there are programs being implemented to reduce the reliance on ground based air traffic control. The shortage of controllers you refer to is not system wide, it is more at specific types of facilities at certain locales and is an issue partially manufactured by NATCA in order to get concessions for increased pay and more time off. Now days air most traffic controllers get paid more than many pilots.
The shortage of controllers you refer to is not system wide, it is more at specific types of facilities at certain locales…
Try reading the article again:
…airports in New York, Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago…
Yeah, not really important sites, and there’s no way delays in those places could possibly cause delays “system wide.”
So, decades of reducing the need for air traffic controllers has resulted in a crippling shortage of them. Maybe, just maybe, you really don’t understand how real economies actually work.
You continue to be a real asshole by imputing things into my statements. Where did I say that any of the locales or facilities weren’t important? And your total ignorance of the NAS and ATC shows just how stupid your comments are when you can’t even frame them in any kind of context let alone and accurate one.
Your entire lack of understanding how the economic policy of free enterprise capitalism that once made this country great is abysmal at best and you should just STFU before you make yourself appear anymore stupid and foolish than you already have.
“Where did I say that any of the locales or facilities weren’t important?”
When you foolishly made your groundless claim that our shortage of air traffic controllers wasn’t “system wide”. If you actually had any appreciation for how a system like ATC works, you’d know that any deficiency at choke points — like, say, highly-congested airspaces at our country’s entry and exit points — would, by definition, be a “system wide” problem. Your failed attempt to minimize a problem you say shouldn’t even exist was the root of the issue here.
“You continue to be a real asshole…”
Nah, if I wanted to do that, I’d simply pound “DROP DEAD” into a keyboard, instead of citing relevant facts from the real world to support my claims.
I know and understand the Air Traffic Control System much better than you’ll ever know your own ass.
“… you have not cited one single source for your assertion …”
Try clicking on the link I originally provided — it’s still sitting there. (Your total inability to produce a single fact to support any of your endless loud assertions is entirely your problem, not mine — or anyone else’s.)
“…that the FAA has, in the past acknowledged air traffic staffing shortages at some facilities.”
So, how did increased automation result in a shortage of air traffic controllers? (That’s a serious question, and no, I don’t expect your economic theory to provide any serious answers.)
or future reference, to be more accurate in your grabbing anything out of the sky to support an unfounded assertion, cite the locale, specific facility type and the date(s) of the ATC staffing shortages by citing authoritative sources of your information,
This from a guy who has utterly failed to provide even one single source citation for any of his strident pronouncements.
“… you’ll ever know your own ass.”
Behold the modern rightie — endlessly obsessed with another guy’s ass. Spare me.
Yeah, right, CNN quoting the union… how’s that for credibility? Not much of an authoritative source anyway. I know NATCA (they hijacked airway facilities engineers from the union for technical employees, Professional Airway System Specialists), air traffic controllers are paid more then most airline pilots and get better benefits from vacation and sick leave to health care benefits and retirement. Reading that screed actually shows that the entire issue is NOT related to anything to do with automation anyway, it has to do with personnel staffing problems related to FAA budget items which is also plaguing delays in implementing the very programs for increasing automation in the Air Traffic Control system. This in turn has lead to recent calls from some parties to create an ATC system like NAV CANADA, the Canadian Automated Air Traffic Management System, which is private/publically owned. That proposal has been brought up several times over the last 25 – 30 years.
And you think I’m obsessed over someone else’s ass! No, it’s only that you don’t know your own ass from a hole in the ground.
“Yeah, right, CNN quoting the union… how’s that for credibility?”
Ok, here’s another article, this time from Forbes:
It also confirms National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) contentions system shortages are now at crisis levels.
We’re still waiting for your economic theory to explain how increasing automation led to a labor shortage. (Don’t worry; we all know you’ll just bluster yet more irrelevancies and personal attacks.)
Maybe you should take your vast knowledge of automation to your blowhard billionaire commissar so he can manufacture the equipment in North Carolina where the hypocrite can pay his skilled workers less the unskilled workers in Seattle.
Try not to get carpal-tunnel syndrome bashing your straw men, dude.
Give it up, tensie! You’re attempting to engage in a battle of wits, but you came to unarmed.
Says the voice of experience. Are you still wearing your wrist brace?
DROP DEAD YOU DOLT!
They were automating restaurants many years prior to the minimum wage increase. I have used them in other cities in the past.
They’ve also never heard of conveyor-belt sushi, where the customers never place orders at all, eliminating the need for installing automation in the first place.