We are finishing up a big expansion this june, supposedly will increase raw tonnage by 50%.
We installed a LOT of automation to make it happen. To the rank and file employee nothing really changes, they still all have their jobs and nobody will get sent home but….
3-5 positions were never created due to this automation. If it were 20 years ago my lab would have 3 more staff members than I currently enjoy. Similar stories abound throughout the company with regards to accounting, HR, and other departments.
As technology gets cheaper and labor gets more expensive our society will continue to shed jobs at an alarming rate.
Dutchman
May 13, 2016 3:06 pm
Very, very, seldom do I eat fast food. The other day, I stopped at a McDonald’s. Honestly, the help was so ignorant, and got the order completely wrong, many don’t even deserve $7.50 minimum wage.
Rise Up
May 13, 2016 3:11 pm
Plumbers, electricians, HVAC, and auto service are still viable careers and not as vulnerable to automation. And they pay substantially more than $15.00/hr.
IndenturedServant
May 13, 2016 4:55 pm
I wonder where I’ll first encounter this technology? It sure as hell won’t be in a fast food restaurant!
Sometimes I wish I could talk more about my job. What someone really needs to invent is a replacement for incompetent management. There should easily and very prudently be five or six more people that know how to do my job but since I started training, the number of people qualified to do it has dropped due to retirement. There are literally three people in the entire world capable of doing what I do and no one in the pipeline to be trained. We are the most profitable division in the entire company too!
Bea Lever
May 13, 2016 7:04 pm
So much for cash, I doubt that machine will make change for a twenty (sarc).
OK, so if we wait on ourselves, do we get our food at a big discount since they don’t pay counter help anymore? You can bet McDonalds will pocket the savings on labor.
Phil from Oz
May 13, 2016 8:05 pm
Automate all the lower-paid (less “skilled”) positions, and slowly lose your customer base. The “very wealthy” tend to NOT frequent McD’s (or comparable emporia), so by disadvantaging their former employees now, they’ll be disadvantaging themselves later (unless their former employees will have sufficient “financial assistance” to permit their continued patronage of such establishments.
This could be the basis for an interesting “dystopian future” novel – a future of fully-automated (completely, NO “Human” intervention) fast – food (and other “fast” services) establishments, all waiting patiently over the aeons – for the last “customers” with disposable income.
Douglas Adams touched on this in the Hitchhiker’s Guide series – the fully -automated Starliner with the captive passengers held in suspended animation (for centuries), awaiting the eventual return of a level of civilisation able to provide the missing “lemon – scented napkins”.
EL Coyote
May 13, 2016 9:20 pm
It’s irritating to listen to morans talking down California because of its politics. Like their fucking politicians don’t suck. Just what is your fucking problem? You have water over there. Great. Indulge in your smugness and get over it. Finally.
Ed
May 13, 2016 11:16 pm
Virginia politicians suck, but they ain’t mine. They just infest the state where I live.
Administrator
Author
May 14, 2016 7:08 am
Minimum-Wage Blowback – Wendy’s To Employ Self-Service Kiosks At 6,000 Locations
Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
In direct response to higher wage prices and the firming of commodity prices, Wendy’s is going to install self-service ordering kiosks at 6,000 locations. McDonald’s is expected to follow at a slower pace.
Investors Business Daily reports Wendy’s Serves Up Big Kiosk Expansion As Wage Hikes Hit Fast Food.
Wendy’s (WEN) said that self-service ordering kiosks will be made available across its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year as minimum wage hikes and a tight labor market push up wages.
It will be up to franchisees whether to deploy the labor-saving technology, but Wendy’s President Todd Penegor did note that some franchise locations have been raising prices to offset wage hikes.
McDonald’s (MCD) has been testing self-service kiosks. But Wendy’s, which has been vocal about embracing labor-saving technology, is launching the biggest potential expansion.
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.
“We are seeing a bit of a softer overall category in April” relative to the past two quarters, Penegor said on an earnings call, implying more of an industrywide trend than an issue specific to Wendy’s.
Penegor said the reason for softer growth was hard to pinpoint, but he listed a cautious consumer, tougher spring weather in the Northeast, and a wider gap between the cost of food at home vs. food away from home as possible contributors.
In addition to self-order kiosks, the company is also getting ready to move beyond the testing phase with labor-saving mobile ordering and mobile payment available systemwide by the end of the year. Yum Brands and McDonald’s already have mobile ordering apps.
Carl’s Jr. Investing in Machines
Business Insider reports Fast-food CEO says he’s investing in machines because the government is making it difficult to afford employees.
The 100% automated restaurant, Eatsa, has inspired the CEO of Carl’s Jr.
The CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s has visited the fully automated restaurant Eatsa — and it’s given him some ideas on how to deal with rising minimum wages.
“I want to try it,” CEO Andy Puzder told Business Insider of his automated restaurant plans. “We could have a restaurant that’s focused on all-natural products and is much like an Eatsa, where you order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person.”
“This is the problem with Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton, and progressives who push very hard to raise the minimum wage,” says Puzder. “Does it really help if Sally makes $3 more an hour if Suzie has no job?”
Zero Human Interaction Eatsa
Also consider This is the first fast-food chain in America that requires zero human interaction.
A new restaurant chain called Eatsa is unlike any fast-food chain we’ve seen before.
The restaurant is almost fully automated, functioning like a vending machine that spits out freshly-prepared quinoa bowls.
When customers enter Eatsa, they order their food at an iPad kiosk.
Then they wait in front of a wall of glass cubbies, where their food will be appear when it’s ready.
Hidden behind the wall of cubbies, kitchen staff prepare the food.
Positions Open!
Wendy’s Careers
State of Affairs
Fast food is not cheap. $15 minimum wages do not help.
It’s easy to dismiss Eatsa. It has 10 stores. But it’s the idea that’s important.
Wendy’s is adopting a similar model as best it can, en masse.
Department stores that have massively over-expanded will follow suit.
None of these trends bode well for store expansion or hiring. Layoffs are on the horizon.
Suzanna
May 14, 2016 11:46 am
First of all, and above all, do not eat fast food.
It is poison. Wrap up a sandwich to take on
the road, a few chips, a piece of fruit, and a
cookie. Don’t forget the thermos or water
bottle.
rhs jr
May 15, 2016 3:18 pm
Press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish, press 3 for Ebonics.
Robert Blake
May 19, 2016 3:34 pm
Such automation already exists and has been in use for over a decade at your local bank or credit union. These are functionally no different than an ATM.
Real unemployment will eventually approach 75%, as technology and productivity improvements continue to relentlessly reduce/destroy the value of human labor, same as it has been doing for centuries now (at an ever-increasing rate). It is as inevitable as the sun rising tomorrow.
In 1900, if you wanted a ditch dug in a day, you hired 100 men with shovels, and they sweated in the sun for 8 straight hours.
In 2000, if you wanted a ditch dug in a day, you hired 1 man with a backhoe and a tank full of petrochemical slaves.
In 2100, if you want a ditch dug in 5 minutes, you pushed a button and a giant orbital laser will burn it into the Earth.
You get the idea.
The problem, as hinted at in Idiocracy and other sci-fi, is what to do with all the soon-to-be-excess labor?
Will we just let them be “Useless eaters”, as Kissinger once quipped, stuffed with Soma, bread and circus? Will there be violent revolution and collapse? Will TPTB allow a world like that of Elysium or Juarez, Mexico, where the wealthy live in protected compounds with hired security and everyone else is destitute? Or will we find something for everyone to do, like in the Star Trek universe?
We are finishing up a big expansion this june, supposedly will increase raw tonnage by 50%.
We installed a LOT of automation to make it happen. To the rank and file employee nothing really changes, they still all have their jobs and nobody will get sent home but….
3-5 positions were never created due to this automation. If it were 20 years ago my lab would have 3 more staff members than I currently enjoy. Similar stories abound throughout the company with regards to accounting, HR, and other departments.
As technology gets cheaper and labor gets more expensive our society will continue to shed jobs at an alarming rate.
Very, very, seldom do I eat fast food. The other day, I stopped at a McDonald’s. Honestly, the help was so ignorant, and got the order completely wrong, many don’t even deserve $7.50 minimum wage.
Plumbers, electricians, HVAC, and auto service are still viable careers and not as vulnerable to automation. And they pay substantially more than $15.00/hr.
I wonder where I’ll first encounter this technology? It sure as hell won’t be in a fast food restaurant!
Sometimes I wish I could talk more about my job. What someone really needs to invent is a replacement for incompetent management. There should easily and very prudently be five or six more people that know how to do my job but since I started training, the number of people qualified to do it has dropped due to retirement. There are literally three people in the entire world capable of doing what I do and no one in the pipeline to be trained. We are the most profitable division in the entire company too!
So much for cash, I doubt that machine will make change for a twenty (sarc).
OK, so if we wait on ourselves, do we get our food at a big discount since they don’t pay counter help anymore? You can bet McDonalds will pocket the savings on labor.
Automate all the lower-paid (less “skilled”) positions, and slowly lose your customer base. The “very wealthy” tend to NOT frequent McD’s (or comparable emporia), so by disadvantaging their former employees now, they’ll be disadvantaging themselves later (unless their former employees will have sufficient “financial assistance” to permit their continued patronage of such establishments.
This could be the basis for an interesting “dystopian future” novel – a future of fully-automated (completely, NO “Human” intervention) fast – food (and other “fast” services) establishments, all waiting patiently over the aeons – for the last “customers” with disposable income.
Douglas Adams touched on this in the Hitchhiker’s Guide series – the fully -automated Starliner with the captive passengers held in suspended animation (for centuries), awaiting the eventual return of a level of civilisation able to provide the missing “lemon – scented napkins”.
It’s irritating to listen to morans talking down California because of its politics. Like their fucking politicians don’t suck. Just what is your fucking problem? You have water over there. Great. Indulge in your smugness and get over it. Finally.
Virginia politicians suck, but they ain’t mine. They just infest the state where I live.
Minimum-Wage Blowback – Wendy’s To Employ Self-Service Kiosks At 6,000 Locations
Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
In direct response to higher wage prices and the firming of commodity prices, Wendy’s is going to install self-service ordering kiosks at 6,000 locations. McDonald’s is expected to follow at a slower pace.
Investors Business Daily reports Wendy’s Serves Up Big Kiosk Expansion As Wage Hikes Hit Fast Food.
Wendy’s (WEN) said that self-service ordering kiosks will be made available across its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year as minimum wage hikes and a tight labor market push up wages.
It will be up to franchisees whether to deploy the labor-saving technology, but Wendy’s President Todd Penegor did note that some franchise locations have been raising prices to offset wage hikes.
McDonald’s (MCD) has been testing self-service kiosks. But Wendy’s, which has been vocal about embracing labor-saving technology, is launching the biggest potential expansion.
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.
“We are seeing a bit of a softer overall category in April” relative to the past two quarters, Penegor said on an earnings call, implying more of an industrywide trend than an issue specific to Wendy’s.
Penegor said the reason for softer growth was hard to pinpoint, but he listed a cautious consumer, tougher spring weather in the Northeast, and a wider gap between the cost of food at home vs. food away from home as possible contributors.
In addition to self-order kiosks, the company is also getting ready to move beyond the testing phase with labor-saving mobile ordering and mobile payment available systemwide by the end of the year. Yum Brands and McDonald’s already have mobile ordering apps.
Carl’s Jr. Investing in Machines
Business Insider reports Fast-food CEO says he’s investing in machines because the government is making it difficult to afford employees.
The 100% automated restaurant, Eatsa, has inspired the CEO of Carl’s Jr.
The CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s has visited the fully automated restaurant Eatsa — and it’s given him some ideas on how to deal with rising minimum wages.
“I want to try it,” CEO Andy Puzder told Business Insider of his automated restaurant plans. “We could have a restaurant that’s focused on all-natural products and is much like an Eatsa, where you order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person.”
“This is the problem with Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton, and progressives who push very hard to raise the minimum wage,” says Puzder. “Does it really help if Sally makes $3 more an hour if Suzie has no job?”
Zero Human Interaction Eatsa
Also consider This is the first fast-food chain in America that requires zero human interaction.
A new restaurant chain called Eatsa is unlike any fast-food chain we’ve seen before.
The restaurant is almost fully automated, functioning like a vending machine that spits out freshly-prepared quinoa bowls.
When customers enter Eatsa, they order their food at an iPad kiosk.
Then they wait in front of a wall of glass cubbies, where their food will be appear when it’s ready.
Hidden behind the wall of cubbies, kitchen staff prepare the food.
Positions Open!
Wendy’s Careers
State of Affairs
Fast food is not cheap. $15 minimum wages do not help.
It’s easy to dismiss Eatsa. It has 10 stores. But it’s the idea that’s important.
Wendy’s is adopting a similar model as best it can, en masse.
Department stores that have massively over-expanded will follow suit.
None of these trends bode well for store expansion or hiring. Layoffs are on the horizon.
First of all, and above all, do not eat fast food.
It is poison. Wrap up a sandwich to take on
the road, a few chips, a piece of fruit, and a
cookie. Don’t forget the thermos or water
bottle.
Press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish, press 3 for Ebonics.
Such automation already exists and has been in use for over a decade at your local bank or credit union. These are functionally no different than an ATM.
Real unemployment will eventually approach 75%, as technology and productivity improvements continue to relentlessly reduce/destroy the value of human labor, same as it has been doing for centuries now (at an ever-increasing rate). It is as inevitable as the sun rising tomorrow.
In 1900, if you wanted a ditch dug in a day, you hired 100 men with shovels, and they sweated in the sun for 8 straight hours.
In 2000, if you wanted a ditch dug in a day, you hired 1 man with a backhoe and a tank full of petrochemical slaves.
In 2100, if you want a ditch dug in 5 minutes, you pushed a button and a giant orbital laser will burn it into the Earth.
You get the idea.
The problem, as hinted at in Idiocracy and other sci-fi, is what to do with all the soon-to-be-excess labor?
Will we just let them be “Useless eaters”, as Kissinger once quipped, stuffed with Soma, bread and circus? Will there be violent revolution and collapse? Will TPTB allow a world like that of Elysium or Juarez, Mexico, where the wealthy live in protected compounds with hired security and everyone else is destitute? Or will we find something for everyone to do, like in the Star Trek universe?