Restaurants without servers?

[Colleen27]

Except lots of people are indeed not working. Workforce participation level is down.

And honestly, anyone who believes robots are only going to do jobs employers can't fill is delusional. If it works, employers will go for maximum robots, minimal humans, both for cost savings and for not having to deal with messy human needs like heath insurance or sick days or maternity leave or even meal breaks. Just because it is, right now, filling an unmet labor need does not mean that is all it will ever be.

 

[hopemax]

Except lots of people are indeed not working. Workforce participation level is down.

The reasons for which, do not align well with availability of restaurant and other low wage workers. People who leave the workforce for caregiver responsibilities are not going to choose jobs, like restaurants, that won't pay enough to cover the costs of paying someone else to provide the care. An aging population that is actively choosing retirement, is unhealthy enough to work or have died are not going to be available to be restaurant staff.

Moreover, my reply was specific to countering the suggestion that my previous post was presenting a world in which humans didn't work at all,. Which was an unfair representation of what I actually said. It was not, as you seem to have interpreted it, as one implying that currently all humans are working.

 

[tvguy]

. If it works, employers will go for maximum robots, minimal humans, both for cost savings and for not having to deal with messy human needs like heath insurance or sick days or maternity leave or even meal breaks.

I can see the signs on the restaurants now. Instead of "closed due to staffing shortage"......they will say "closed due to chip shortage?"

 

[tvguy]

Except lots of people are indeed not working. Workforce participation level is down.

But a larger percentage of the working age population than ever is in fact working. But of course, there ARE fewer people of working age. Which has been the case for years and is at the heart of the concerns about Social Security. The ratio of people drawing benefits is far higher than those paying in than it has ever been.

 

[lpereira]

A restaurant in my area has a robot. Not sure its purpose but I think it's for serving. It also has a "belt line" ( I don't know what to call it) that goes around with food (with covers on it). It's mostly a sushi place and we don't eat sushi so I won't be going.

It's Kura Revolving Sushi Bar. It's fun...once. The sushi is cheap and very good. You win prizes for putting your dirty plates in the slot. One conveyor belt brings around prepared sushi and other dishes. The other belt brings special.orders. We didn't see a human again after we sat down. The bill came with a suggested tip amount. 18-20-22%. I customized and tipped a dollar person walked to the table. And then I haven't gone back. I tip 15% when I have very bad service. I'm not opposed to tipping. I am not tipping a machine.

 

[Imzadi]

I probably wouldn't have a problem if the service was good.

But, I wouldn't want it of I had a problem with my meal or order and when I went to complain or ask for something different that I get this response and there is no one else to talk to, to address the situation:

 

[Imzadi]

Automation is already slowly replacing human workers. Have none of you been shopping in a Target store recently? At all the ones I've been to in NY& NJ, the several lines of human cashiers have been replaced with long lines for self-service kiosks. One store I was in didn't even have any human cashiers. Everyone had to do the self check out with only one human manning the area as problems came up.

The convention center here used to have 8 manned check out lines. They've replaced all of those with self-checkout kiosks with 2 humans having to teach all of us how to find and choose our meals at check out. (There's no bar codes to scan.) And in another area, they brought in Amazon with a convenience To-Go center where one can get pre-packaged sandwiches and salads in the plastic containers, yogurts, chips, etc. They are all bar-coded. One doesn't even need to check out. The Amazon camera scanners overhead and at the door will automatically register which items one walks out with. One human is manning that. So 8 humans have been dwindled down to 3.

The prices of items aren't any cheaper than before. I'm sure the conference center is keeping the extra money from not having to pay cashiers, saying that money is now being used to maintenance the self-checkout machines and the service men.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I think it sounds kinda fun! Would be interested to see what it's like in person.

 

[tvguy]

Automation is already slowly replacing human workers. Have none of you been shopping in a Target store recently? At all the ones I've been to in NY& NJ, the several lines of human cashiers have been replaced with long lines for self-service kiosks. One store I was in didn't even have any human cashiers. Everyone had to do the self check out with only one human manning the area as problems came up.

That wouldn't work in California because Target sells things like alcohol, nail polish, spray paint and insecticides that state law requires be checked out by a staffed checkstand. Ran into that in Walmart a few weeks back, buying a bottle of wine with my groceries at 730 am. No manned checkstand open, but the person overseeing the self checks took us to a regular check stand and checked us out.