Jack in the Box CEO Says It "Makes Sense" to Consider Replacing Human Cashiers with Robots If Wages

[brooklynite]

Source: Slate

Leonard Comma, the CEO of Jack in the Box, indicated that the fast food chain will reconsider replacing human cashiers with machines like self-service kiosks as California gradually increases its minimum wage over the next four years, according to Business Insider. “As we see the rising costs of labor, it just makes sense,” he reportedly said on Tuesday at the ICR Conference in Florida.

Comma claims that previous tests of automated kiosks at certain Jack in the Box locations, which began in 2006, resulted in greater efficiency and higher checks on average. The installation costs just weren’t worth it at the time. However, California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a law in 2016 that will raise the state’s minimum wage incrementally each year to $15 by 2022. And California is just a part of a nation-wide wave of minimum wage reforms—17 other states, including New York, Michigan, and Washington, are also seeing increases early this year.

Automation is a familiar threat from executives unhappy with rising labor costs. Andrew Puzder, the CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s who was briefly Trump’s pick for labor secretary, told Business Insider in 2016 that he would be interested in developing an employee-free restaurant if minimum wages keep rising. “[Robots are] always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case,” he told reporters.

Wendy’s, Caliburger, and various fast food chains have been putting kiosks to work, though not all of them have presented the machines as replacements for people. For example, McDonald’s rolled out kiosks in 2,500 locations in 2017, but it has long held that its growing use of automation will result in cashiers being reassigned to other jobs, rather than being laid off.

Read more: https://slate.com/technology/2018/01/jack-in-the-boxs-ceo-says-it-just-makes-sense-to-replace-people-with-robots.html

[underpants]

1. There are still "Jack in the box"es?

Leonard Comma is an interesting name

[louis-t]

13. Almost like someone doing a voice text.

"Leonard (comma)"

[elleng]

2. Right, makes sense to not pay wages to those like our CUSTOMERS!

[FakeNoose]

32. Robots are very expensive - it's cheaper to pay the people min. wages

Believe me, the fast food industry has already figured that one out. If they could have saved money on automated cashiers they would have done it already.

The people who will be replaced by robots are the high-wage careers like lawyers, doctors and engineers.

Just sayin'

[MichMan]

46. Depends on the wage scale

Might not make sense at 10/hr, but at $15/hr it may provide an ROI

[FakeNoose]

115. Yes well,

Doctors, lawyers and engineers make considerably more than that. I think that was my point.

[Kilgore]

135. Here is an example

My bro in law has a store in CA and employed a sign shaker for years. When the wage went up, he replaced the person with one of these, http://www.signwavingrobot.com/economy.html paid for in less than 30 hours at the $15 minimum wage

[TheBlackAdder]

113. Translation: The fucker is already planning to make a move, he's just trying to find a patsy for it.

[jberryhill]

3. Did anyone have a problem with Horn & Hardart

This is not a "new" idea.

I used to love automats when I was a kid.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Was about to post that.

The "model" has been out for a long time.

[LisaM]

31. But people put the food into those little boxes.

Is this really an equivalent?

[EX500rider]

43. Somebody will put the food in the McD's little boxes also.

[BumRushDaShow]

62. What EX500rider posted

Someone would still need to assemble the sandwich, although I suppose they could automate that with pre-cooked burgers slapped on rolls and maybe flash-frozen... and then something else could microwave it to heat it up on-demand. But automating that at a franchise would be dicey.

And then what often happens is that consumers "rebel" and want "home cooked" foods at their "fast food" joints, where they are willing to wait for something other than a McFood. That seemed to be the impetus behind the Five Guys chain.

[LisaM]

81. I'd take McDonald's over Five Guys (tastewise) any day.

I don't know if Five Guys actually sugars their buns, or if they just inject them with glucose!

[BumRushDaShow]

91. I am about 7 miles from 2 different Five Guys but have never gone into one yet. nt

[LisaM]

93. I live near one, so every now and then I go in.

Then I remember why I usually wait three months between trips. They are very slow, the fries are really hit or miss, and their buns are really sugary.

I want to give them a chance, but they need to figure out those buns.

[BumRushDaShow]

95. "they need to figure out those buns."

You just made me think of this!!!

[LisaM]

98. Ack!

What is that?

[BumRushDaShow]

100. Sorry

(the old 1980s workout video that was "famous" (or infamous))

[jberryhill]

64. Have you ever been to a fast food restaurant?

The people pushing the buttons on the order pads also rotate around the store to do other things too.

It lightly-staffed fast food joints around here, it's a marvel to see them don plastic gloves to prepare food, handle money, and then go back to preparing food. I think some of them got the idea that the plastic gloves are simply to keep their hands clean.

[LisaM]

84. I worked at McDonald's as a teenager, and I liked it.

But it was different, McDonald's wasn't really set up to provide full-time jobs to people supporting a family, and they weren't 24 hours, either. Opened at 6:30, closed at, I don't know, 10:00 or 11:00, and there were defined busy times when it would be more staffed up. The drive-through was just starting up.

It was a good job as a teenager, for what was mostly spending money, or the summer I was in college, rent and saving up for tuition.

What do high school and college kids do for part-time jobs now?

[crazycatlady]

133. My cousin (HS senior) works at Dunkin

Her sisters are waiting tables.

When I was that age, I worked concession at a movie theater, then I was a cashier at CVS. COllege brought me Kohl's.

[brooklynite]

67. There was also a cashier to make change..

[louis-t]

12. I remember going to one the first time I was in NYC.

1973, I think. Saw Irene on Broadway with Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. The Good Doctor with Rene Auberjonois and Grease. Have not been able to document the cast of Grease, as I only have the Playbill from the other two.

[BigmanPigman]

21. Do they still have the Chock Full of Nuts diners?

They have tons of "automats" in Japan and they are really popular.

[dhol82]

104. Nope. Chock full of nuts is gone like the sands of time.

I used to love their nut bread cream cheese sandwiches.
And the coffee.

[jmowreader]

17. That's not quite the same as JITB is proposing

The Automat had a staff on the back side of the machines to refill each slot as it emptied. Jack in the Box seems to be going toward robotic food assembly and ATM-style ordering kiosks with no people in the restaurant at all...which works right up to the time when the Deplorables figure out there's no one in the restaurant and clean it out.

[BumRushDaShow]

65. "the Deplorables figure out there's no one in the restaurant and clean it out"

[FSogol]

71. Clean it out is exactly what jack-in-the-box food will do to your colon.

[BumRushDaShow]

72. We don't have any JITBs here in Philly

at ALL. I think the closest ones are in Indiana or North Carolina!

[jberryhill]

73. We used to

They disappeared in the 80’s I believe. We used to call it Jack in the Crack.

I was amazed to see they still existed out west.

[BumRushDaShow]

74. Gino's was the place to go here...

(and not the steak place)

[jberryhill]

77. Ah, yes, home of the Gino's Giant

They were all taken over by Roy Rogers where, if you were creative, you could make a salad out of free condiments.

[BumRushDaShow]

79. Yup.

Had many a birthday party there! They have sortof been resurrected though but now only down in MD, after some fits and starts and closures up here (bad timing to try to make a comeback during the great recession).

[FSogol]

96. Ugh. When we were 14 or 15, my friends & I used to go over to a Ginos since a

friend's brother worked there. He would go to the IGA next door and buy beer for us. There was so much grease on the floor by the back door, he could slide across the floor like it was an ice skating rink. It grossed us out, even at that age.

[BumRushDaShow]

99. You always had this too

I remember when I was little, there was one not far from where we lived that we would go to occasionally. Then it closed down. It had the drive-in stalls too. This was before we ever got any McDonald's near us.

[FSogol]

118. I awalys liked Hot Shoppes, they were owned by Marriott and were decent. Remember Burger Chef?

I told this anecdote in another DU thread on defunct restaurant.

Remember Burger Chef? My sister and I always pestered our Mom to take us, but
she hated the place because she said it was dirty. One time, she pointed out a burger, with a bite out of it, on the floor under our booth. The next time we went back, about a week later, that burger was still there! We never went again.

Burger Chef, in you don't know them, invented the Happy Meal which McDonalds stole from them.

I never saw a Hot Shoppes Jr, but I remember Pappy Parker's Chicken.

[BumRushDaShow]

124. I don't think we had any Burger Chef's near me

Nor any Burger Kings or Wendys.

Growing up for me was Gino's (where a McDonald's franchise didn't arrive nearby until I was almost in high school in the mid-70s), with the occasional trip to a White Castle and/or White Tower (the competitors! lol). Gino's partnered with KFC and then later became a Roy Rogers (before the one near me closed).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

137. Virginia plates. Google suggests that's on Leesburg Pike at Seven Corners.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/278801033161716168/



From the cutline: "Leesburg Pike at Seven Corners (Falls Church), VA, on the corner of Sleepy Hollow Road. 1964."

That sounds about right.

[BumRushDaShow]

139. Had been hunting around and I think this is the one that I recall

It eventually got bowled down in the late '60s and the plot became a car dealership, then a Barnes & Noble, and finally a CVS.

[They_Live]

78. or the opposite, really.

it's not cleansing in any way.

[pangaia]

20. Oh, jeeze. I remember those in Manhattan when I was a wee tot.

[Initech]

4. Inching closer to Idiocracy every day.

[Dave Starsky]

145. Oh, we've actually gone past that.

That movie is now a historical document.

I would actually warmly embrace a President Camacho. At least he wasn't a science denier and truly wanted to help the American people.

[Initech]

146. Camacho certainly has more integrity than Trump ever did or will!

[GrapesOfWrath]

6. Who does this idiot think his customers are...

Just working folks, fool... where does the money come from to buy your crappy burgers?

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

111. I agree

The GOP has always made the "employees should feel damned lucky they've even got a job" argument. And their supporters buy it and keep voting them into office. After all, isn't the U.S. just one big corporation whose sole purpose is to increase and protect (via a robust military) the profits of its owner?

[marble falls]

7. These guys are so short sighted. Screw him and his fucked up food.

[groundloop]

8. HINT - AUTOMATION NEEDS HIGH PAID TECHNICIANS TO KEEP IT WORKING

It costs a lot to install, it needs maintenance, things break, components fail.... and then you get to pay someone like me big bucks to take care of it. All in the name of denying a decent wage to his servers and cashiers. DUMB !!!!!!

[They_Live]

14. Yep. and updates.

lots and lots of updates.

[cojoel]

24. and the new improved model

there's always those to buy

[pangaia]

22. Like when the gate will not go up when trying to pay with a credit card to get out of the

long term parking lot.
And there are 6 cars behind you...

[KPN]

49. HighER paid technicians ...

[Honeycombe8]

60. If it's cost effective, they'll all do it. If it's not, they won't.

It's basic math.

Automation happens, whether we want it to or not. This is the history of civilization. It has nothing to do with wages of low-level workers or whatever else they try to blame it on.

Changing to automobiles from horses as our main mode of transportation put a lot of people out of work. But even more jobs were created in the end. And faster travel allowed other business sectors to flourish.

[louis-t]

9. Gee, who's gonna buy yer crappy burgers

if the whole world is employee-free? Asshole.

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. Even a starving robot wouldn't eat your food, boss.

[matt819]

11. OK, Go ahead

And let's see how many customers are happy interacting with robots.

Look, there are ways to increase efficiency, and that may result in the elimination of some jobs - such as order kiosks. That's fine-ish. That's the way things are in the real world these days. I saw a video of the Tesla factory, or something like that, and there are fewer humans than you would expect. So it goes. Maybe it means higher wages for the humans. The same could apply to fast food, and without the antagonism toward minimum wage and the hostility to workers at that level.

Who knows, maybe you can also replace the folks at the grills and the drive-up window, etc. And maybe customers will be happy with that. But does Jack in the box want to be the poster child for this attitude if it doesn't work?

Me? I hardly ever go to a fast food place, but i go to coffee shops and diners and such. I like humans. I like the interaction. At the grocery store I hardly ever use the automated checkout. Don't care much for human contact there, but I also don't want the cashiers to lose their jobs to automated checkout. My small contribution to a human-centric world.

[Doitnow]

23. When I was at the grocery store one day, a lady at the automated stand yelled out to come

to her area. I yelled back, "That's a job killer."

[appleannie1943]

108. Because of our insurance we have to get our prescriptions at Wally World Pharmacy.

At the WalMaRT nearest to us they still have 3 regular checkout counters and 6 automatic ones. People stand in line at the 3 while the 6 are empty.

[ck4829]

15. I'm sure robots can do Comma's and Puzder's job with ease

And they certainly wouldn't need compensation packages.

[AtheistCrusader]

33. Don't even need a robot. An algorithm can do most of it.

That said, the technophobia in this thread is disappointing.

You don't keep shit jobs around just for the sake of having shit jobs. Fuck this battle. Don't fight it. Go back to basics. Education. People should be coming out of school ready to start the NEXT class of entry level work, which will be repairing and maintaining automation, on up to designing new automation.

At some point the only work in this category left for humans, will be bespoke ultra-high-end service work that will be human because that human interaction has value to the customer and the customer is willing to pay for it.

[MarcA]

44. In the coming centuries automation will do everything allowed.

Better to have a system that taxes the businesses to provide
a decent standard of living globally or one where automated production
services simply provide it. Of course, humans, well at least some of
them, will be living for centuries by then. Until then work for
minimum decent standard of living.

[AtheistCrusader]

63. Universal basic income would be one possible part of that solution.

[Trailrider1951]

119. Paid for by taxing the automation

If labor by Humans is taxable, so should be the labor provided by robots.

[orleans]

123. i was thinking that companies should be heavily taxed when they kill jobs

and use automation.

fuck them.

[MarcA]

38. +1,000 n/t

[Anon-C]

16. I kid you not, the Carl's Jr. CEO has a book titled: "Job Creation: How it Really Works and why...

...Government Doesn't Understand it."

[Doitnow]

18. Since eventually there won't be any employees around, we won't have to feel sorry

for them when we boycott these places.

[Honeycombe8]

19. If that works for them, they should do it.

It's his business. Whatever works best for him.

But the country won't be blackmailed into giving him slave labor so he'll abuse workers rather than robots. That's a non-starter.

Throughout human history, innovations and progress have occurred. The change is hard, but when one job leaves, another pops up.

There used to be rooms full of women typists. That was back in the day when most women didn't even work. They were paid very little, of course. But DESPITE THE VERY LOW PAY AND BENEFITS, they were replaced by computers. Progress marches on. It has little to do with wages. But those women went on to become computer operators, clerks, secretaries, assistant secretaries, general office workers, file clerks, and other jobs. Things change in the different job sectors over time. (There used to be a lot of switchboard operators, too. But no more. There used to be jobs to build horse carriages.)

[Doitnow]

25. And I guess there will always be people who don't give a damn about their communities.

[Honeycombe8]

56. Are you saying that I don't care about my community? nt

[shenmue]

116. Yes

[Honeycombe8]

142. No one's talking to you. I was asking chicken little what he meant.

Last edited Thu Jan 11, 2018, 08:42 PM - Edit history (1)

But he's too chicken to respond, apparently. Some people love to dish it out, or do a swing-by hit, but can't take a real discussion.

Like it or not, protest it or not...it will happen. This is the history of mankind: progress.

The rooms full of typists, switchboards covered with switchboard operators, craftsmen who made their living making horse carriages....all those jobs became obsolete because of progress. Man has historically ALWAYS invented ways to lighten the load, shorten the task.

The cave man who earned his keep by carrying things for others was out of a job when the wheel was invented, no doubt.

It'll be fine. When one job is replaced, another springs up. The transition is hard, but in the end, mankind benefits. Aren't we better off because computers displaced typists? Because the automobile displaced horse buggies? Because electricity displaced gas lights?

This is really just trying to scare people about something that is the normal course of events. No one can stop it, even if he wants to. And there will be new jobs to replace the old ones. Just like we've been through before. (Although countless women lost their typist and switchboard jobs, no one can argue that those were replaced by MANY more jobs filled by women since then.)

[muntrv]

26. Hey Comma! Automation requires maintenance. Are you going to skimp on that expense?

If so, you will lose customers fast.

[EllenlogRL]

27. well if they can't

even pay their employees a decent wage then how are they still in business? Maybe the CEO could take a couple less million dollars per year?

[Cryptoad]

28. ONly way that wages will rise to at least a living wage for all,,,,,,

is for a Tax Law that only companies which pay all their employees at least a living wage, can receive any tax cuts from the IRS!

[hadEnuf]

29. Well, "E-coli in the Box" doesn't have the best operating and management record.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Jack_in_the_Box_E._coli_outbreak

Leonard Commie better keep his new machines clean.

[bronxiteforever]

30. nothing says flavor like automated jack in the box meals

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

34. I wonder how much Leonard makes a year?

Could probably get a lot of robots for that salary............

[Docreed2003]

92. 9 mill a year...

According to this:

https://www1.salary.com/Leonard-Comma-Salary-Bonus-Stock-Options-for-JACK-IN-THE-BOX-INC-NEW.html

[brush]

35. Guess this fool didn't learn from Papa John CEO shooting himself in the foot with anti-worker...

remarks, general negativity.

Look for Jack in the Box sales to start falling if he tries that.

[Jeroen]

36. I can't wait for the robot CEO to make these fuckers unemployed

You know, the machine that always makes the right decisions, doesn't take risks nor millions and doesn't corrupt politicians.

[MarcA]

45. Yes, they are the truly obsolete. n/t

[Bengus81]

37. Those garbage burgers and fries showed up here years ago...

And disappeared about as fast--and this is a City that lives on fast food. Oh my...another CEO threatening automation because of GASP rising MW labor.

That coming from fuckers that make what....$5-$10 MILLION+ per year,plus perks,plus a Jet,health care for their family,golden parachute.....etc,etc.

[Gore1FL]

39. Fine by me. The jobs that service the machines will pay more.

So will the jobs building the machines. So will the jobs transporting the machines. So will the jobs servicing the machines.


The CEO and his company would be better off if they realized than the vast majority of their costs actually came from materials and tried to find a less expensive source they could actually make a useful impact on their bottom line.

[Honeycombe8]

58. This is true. Don't let the big guys get away with blaming low-wage workers for their decisions.

The wages of workers have nothing to do with progress and automation. It's the history of humankind. We progress and adapt.

We got over moving from horses to automobiles as transportation, from hand making everything to automation in making things like car parts, from hand plowing a field to using mules to plow to using machines. It's what we humans do. We are always on the lookout for things that make life easier, make things faster.

If it's a good invention, it'll happen, regardless of wages of workers who did it the old way. But they'll try and blame it on the workers. And transition is hard and hurtful.

[procon]

40. Its going to happen.

Instead of complaining about the loss of obsolete, dead end jobs, Dems should be working on plans and policies to improve educational and training opportunities for low wage workers so they actually can get a better job. As others have mentioned, there will be plenty of good paying jobs in a high tech future for those who have the necessary skills.

We managed to move the nation's workforce from agriculture to industry and manufacturing during WWII. We can do it again, shifting from redundant manual labor jobs to the highly skilled workforce of the future. The Republicans won't do anything to help workers, but the Dems have a great opportunity here.

[DAMANgoldberg]

66. Better idea

Dems nationwide should run on Universal Basic Income.

FiveThirtyEight Explainer

The Canadian equivalent of the Warren Wing of the Democratic Party is doing so.

[procon]

86. Our cultural mores would probably make that a very hard sell. nt

[DAMANgoldberg]

90. That is true...

however, if you can't find a job because they don't exist, then there is not much choice short of political and stability suicide not to at least attempt this. Watch Stockton, CA as they try it out. Also, another real-life form is the Alaska Permanent Fund.

[CCExile]

41. Like it or not, this is coming...

Not just JITB. Automated farming is here now, experimentally. One can get prescription eyeglasses online. Many, many jobs are going away. It won't be long, in historical terms before the are more people than jobs PERMANENTLY, and the trend will continue. The puzzling questions are what a post-employment society looks like. How do economies work when people are taken out of the equation? How will we, so many of whom have a large and important part of our lives shaped and enriched by employment, reshape our lives. Can we even do it? When three quarters of the population doesn't work, will "work ethic" still be a value? Maybe it will be work-share with a vengence. "Oh honey! It's so good to be home. The work week was brutal! Hardest two hours I've ever had...". Will well educated people take to it better than uneducated people, say with travel, art, music? Maybe we'll reduce the population to just a few hundred thousand and everyone will be friends (hmmph)!

[KPN]

54. How will "we" reshape our lives? Need you ask?

Enlist in the Army/Air Force/Marines/Navy/Coast Guard. Defend the "owner-rulers".

[cstanleytech]

42. That has been the typical threat varies Repugnants have been using like a club for awhile but

the truth is that its unlikely to happen because when those kiosks go down (which can and does happen) and they do not have the people to take the orders they will go under.
Besides the jobs they provide pay shit due to the poor hours and low pay.

[cannabis_flower]

47. Yeah, and..

Uber says that they are testing driverless cars. But are people really going to want to get in a driverless car. Maybe eventually, but I bet 90% of Uber's customers will still want a car with a driver.

What happens when someone makes a mess? What happens when someone needs help?

[progree]

48. "McDonalds rolled out kiosks in 2,500 locations in 2017,

but it has long held that its growing use of automation will result in cashiers being reassigned to other jobs, rather than being laid off."

LOL, good marketing McDonalds. Funny nobody caught this corporate baloney-speak. Yes, as you slowly introduce kiosks, you will be able to reassign workers. But obviously you will be hiring fewer workers too.

[PoliticAverse]

55. Exactly. They'll need to hire less workers in the future if they don't fire the workers

replaced by the kiosks.

[MichMan]

50. Lots of customers would rather not interact with people

Last edited Wed Jan 10, 2018, 07:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Lots of people prefer not interacting with people, especially millennials and younger.

This is just a further extension of the Fast Food model anyway. No waitresses, no busboys and dishwashers like a regular restaurant had. No one cared about those jobs going away. Same as a Supermarket; people selected their own groceries from the shelf instead of having a clerk pick them out. No one boycotted ATM because of bank teller jobs being eliminated.

[PoliticAverse]

57. Indeed, especially if it means not having to wait on a line for the next available person. n/t

[progree]

51. Red Robin eliminates bus boys as restaurants combat minimum wage hikes

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2018/01/09/red-robin-eliminates-bus-boys-as-restaurants-combat-minimum-wage-hikes.amp.html

It doesn't say how a restaurant operates without busboys, ... probably everyone else from cooks to servers are expected to pitch in.

[TexasBushwhacker]

68. Perhaps they pay their servers minimum wage

instead of $2.10. Each servers cleans their own tables. Even so, it would be stupid not to have bus boys during busy times.

[KPN]

52. Anyone have any idea what annual income (including profit)

a typical/average Jack In the Box owner makes? McDonalds?

I knew someone years ago who's Dad owned 8 McDonalds (he started as hamburger flipper, worked into mgmt, took up a good offer on a franchise, and ended up eventually with eight at the time I knew this person). He was able to buy Muhammad Ali's house when it went up for sale in New Jersey in the 1980s. Supposedly an impressive (big, exorbitant, etc.) "house".

Not knocking making money, but when does CEO/owner income become enough relative to labor income and overall societal implications?

[Eliot Rosewater]

53. Kick them out of any state where they do this, I say.

[MichMan]

82. How about all the banks with ATM ?

After all, not nearly as many tellers as there used to be working. Should a state also kick them out too?

[Eliot Rosewater]

85. Yes...

Your argument is others do it so why not, my argument is fuck these no good bastards.

Why do you support automation and losing jobs for humans?

If there was a reasonable, safe way to have a human being in a box 24 hours a day, I say hell yes, get rid of ATM

[EllieBC]

88. You need a bank 24 hours a day?

Believe it or not, people used to not die from not being able to go get cash at 2am. No really, they were ok.

[Eliot Rosewater]

101. NOt me, the person I am responding to is saying that

[MichMan]

109. Where did I ever say 24 hrs a day?

I don't, but people who work late night shifts might very well need to get $$ at hours when the bank isn't open or during the weekend

I work 7:30 AM until 5 PM. I don't really want to take time off if I need cash during normal banking hours M-F.

You, on the other hand, said you agree that banks with ATM should be forced to close and leave the state. Which one of us sounds ridiculous?

[Orrex]

128. People used to be ok with shitting in the yard and dying in childbirth

Time marches on, and the world changes.

Unless you're reading the internet as a hardcopy that you buy at the newstand, then it's silly to pretend that the electronic realities of 1980 apply to 2018.

[EllieBC]

140. I'm fine with it. I'm trying to figure out why only one group of low wage workers

is more deserving than others of anger over replacement thanks to automation.

[MichMan]

94. Because I'm not a luddite

Because I'm not afraid that technological advances are evil.

How would anyone seriously argue that electronic banking and widespread use of debit cards hasn't been beneficial? No longer does someone driving across country have to carry enough cash with them for any possible emergency.

Speaking of driving, the invention of the automobile was a tremendous asset to society even though it cost jobs of buggy whip manufacturers, farriers, harness makers and stable hands.

Computers eliminated the a lot of clerical jobs, but created many more. The internet was bad for newspaper and magazine employees, but allowed websites like this one to reach lots of people & making communication so much easier.

TV, Movies, and recorded music was not good for theatres and music venues, but brought entertainment into people's homes.

[snooper2]

138. You know, I'm still pissed off about all of the wheelwrights that lost their jobs

Fucking Bullshit if you ask me!

[oberliner]

126. Pretty much all fast food chains are doing this

In every state.

[JI7]

59. If its cheaper they would already be doing it

I notice at self checkouts they usually need someone there and stands are often not working.

And they really should be for people with few items and even they take longer than of it was a cashier doing it. But it's even worse when people with a bunch of things uses it.

[christx30]

75. I'm a night person, and I'll go the Walmart after 10,

because I don't like to bring the kids there. Sometimes walmart will close all of the manned registers, leaving only the self checkouts. it's a pain in the ass, but my wife and I will check out a $250 grocery order, just the two of us. The sole employee in the area will look at us in disgust, but what ya gonna do? Ya'll don't have any human registers opened, ya know?
But, yeah, if it's just a few things, I'd much rather do self checkout. I don't need the human interaction. I work telephone tech support. I talk to enough people in a day.

[yurbud]

61. that would depend on what their profit margin is and whether people will like dealing with one more

screen.

I suspect people will like it as much as they do automated customer service operators:

"To hear our hours, press one. For directions to our store, press two. To speak to the department no one every wants to speak to, press three. To speak to the second least likely department you want to speak to..."

[TexasBushwhacker]

70. Yeah. I would pass.

I was just at Target to buy a few items. They had 4 self checkouts but only 2 were working, leaving 4 to 5 people waiting. They also had only 3 cashiers, with lines of 3 or 4 people at each. I left.

[yurbud]

136. I use self-checkout in part because the lines are always shorter

my wife refuses to.

I suspect if a change like this is coming, it will take a generation or so, sort of like paying with cards instead of checks--and maybe every other week someone in line ahead of me STILL writes a fucking check while they stand there with everyone behind them.

[TexasBushwhacker]

141. I pretty much avoid self check out

The 2 grocery stores I use most don't even have self check out. The other one I will only use the self check out if I only have a couple of things and the lines for the cashiers are long.

[yurbud]

143. automation will never totally replace people for same reason telecommuting didn't take off

I had a job I quit, and the boss said I could make a couple of weeks more pay if I did a project from home, and drop off my work every couple of days.

Pretty soon I was so desperate for human contact, I timed my trip to my mailbox to coincide with the old lady who would chat me up for half an hour at a time.

[Marthe48]

69. Saw the headline reminded me of this:

Fast Food Drive Thru (double cheeseburger, large orange drink) lol

[They_Live]

83. and then this happened:

[EllieBC]

76. Why did no one care this much about bank tellers or grocery cashiers?

Seriously. No one was this upset about the low wages of either and no one got this upset when they were replaced by ATMs and self serve checkout. Do some low wage employees count more than others???

[MichMan]

80. Waiting for the ATM boycott movement............

I don't hear one person ever claim they are boycotting using an ATM and will only go inside a bank to be waited on by a live teller.

[EllieBC]

87. Don't hold your breath.

The loss of those jobs doesn't seem to bother people.

[Marthe48]

147. I don't have an ATM card

I started the process, but didn't follow through. I am retired, so I can do my banking during bank hours. I mind the loss of gas jockeys, bank tellers, and grocery clerks. And all of the jobs that launched so many teens on their way to college, or a better job, or whatever they were planning.

I rarely use the self pay grocery check-out. When I thought about it, it's a lot of work: I put the groceries in the cart, take them out to scan, bag them, put them in the car, take them out and put them away when I get home. I'm glad there is a clerk who can do 2 steps, although I'll bag if they are really busy.

[BumRushDaShow]

89. Oh there was some blowback on the tellers in banks

where a number of the banks bragged about not needing any... in some cases leading to "internet banks", etc. However many communities fought those banks by closing their accounts and moving their $$ elsewhere.... and have even been fighting the supermarkets. Soon enough the tellers have returned (and the bank I go to, which had been taken over 5 times in 30-some years even expanded hours).... and a bunch of supermarkets nearest to me have removed the self-checkouts.

[MichMan]

97. No one is forced to use ATM and debit cards are they?

Go inside the bank if you like and pay for everything with cash. Your choice.

Most people prefer not to do so if they don't need to.

For that matter, I love it when people who use the internet regularly complain about technology taking people's jobs away. Why aren't they getting their news from newspapers and magazines like grand dad did back in the day.

[BumRushDaShow]

106. I think the issue was

that there were certain transactions that really required a teller (e.g., many ATMs have a limit to how much could be withdrawn in a day or could not handle funds transfers between certain accounts, etc)... And there were banks that literally removed maybe all but one or two tellers, which resulted in a long line (my bank went through that a couple buyouts ago)... And there were (and still are) the fees for using the ATMs (either in-network and/or definitely out-of-network).

And then there are these things -

(which is what prompted the chip)

[Liberalagogo]

102. Coming soon:

[BumRushDaShow]

110. Followed by

[7962]

103. This shouldn't surprise anyone. People have said this would be the result.

SOME people will make the higher wage, others will be out of a job.
People who maintain the new automated equip will certainly make good money. But it won't be daily

[appleannie1943]

105. I hope all the automatic stores like their robot customers because this is one human that will not

darken their door.

[Thomas Hurt]

107. This was going to happen regardless of min wage.

[missingthebigdog]

112. Our local McDonald's has rolled out an app.

You download the app, place your order, and pay over the net. Then you pull into a numbered stall in the lot, and someone brings your order to you.

I don't see a significant difference between this and a kiosk.

[Ccarmona]

114. Most of You Are Probably too Young to Remember Auto-Mats

[link:|

They were the original fast food outlets in NYC and other cities. The food was prepared behind the dispensers by real people and real people re-filled the slots when an item was purchased and taken away.

[Angleae]

120. Or as we call it, the "Wheel of death"

They finally got rid of them in the break room this year. Some of that stuff was just downright nasty.

[oberliner]

127. That's not what an automat is

[Bradical79]

117. They always lie when claiming this is tied to higher wages

When robots can do the job, they will. Robots will be cheaper over the long run regardless.

[Angleae]

121. The Jack in the Box up here (Everett, WA) had done just this a number of years ago.

They after a few years they went away. I guess they didn't learn.

[rtracey]

122. who

Who the fuck eats at Jack in the box, that's like going to radio shack for your electronics, or Pizza hut for pizza..... hahhaha stupid

[oberliner]

125. That is happening everywhere

Regardless of minimum wage increases.

[DetlefK]

129. I call bollocks. It's not about wages. Not in the least.

The problem is not that the wages are going too high.

The problem is that unpaid robots are becoming so cheap that paid humans are no longer competitive.

[Orrex]

130. I agree

Businesses have played this game for over a century. Every job-cutting measure is blamed on those pesky workers, and every pro-worker advance (minimum wage, overtime, OSHA, etc.) is decried as a deathblow to business.

Fuck that. It's all simply another way of saying "we deserve to earn more for your labor."

[Rene]

131. I don't go to any store that uses machines instead of people for cashiers.

[egold2604]

132. Sheetz in Central PA uses an automated kiosk ordering system

The convenience store chain, Sheetz, uses an automated touch screen ordering system. You place your order and are given an order number. you then have to go to the cashiers to pay for your order and any other additional items like drinks. You then go back to where the food is prepared and wait for your order. Very efficient.

They used to have the touchscreen ordering system by each gas pump, but removed them. Too many people were ordering then driving off.

[Kilgore]

134. Aleady happening

I'm in CA this week and have witnessed it first hand at McDonalds, Olive Garden, and Applebees. My Bro in law owns a store and had a person out at the street as a sign shaker. That person is gone, replaced by machine.

Unintended consequence?

[nolabels]

144. The best way to help the whole thing is to stop going to fast food places

The fast-food companies would not be able to exploit workers if they had no business.