So far, companies like Starbucks have balanced automating with maintaining a human touch. Robots or automated workers come with benefits - they don't show up late, don't steal, and never ask for raises - but they also have a downside. "The challenge - and opportunity - for workers is for people to take control of their own work-life and navigate the positive impacts (easier access to education/training, new job creation, etc.) so that they aren't overwhelmed by the negative impacts of technological progress. Keep open to change and keep moving forward." What does this mean for business? "It is not to be feared, but it must be managed," he wrote. Goff explained in his email that in a broad sense technology tends to create more opportunity than it displaces. "Concerns about technology displacing jobs has been a constant Luddite theme throughout the Information Revolution, and in fact since the Industrial Revolution," he wrote. He told The Motley Fool that robots will perform some jobs typically done by humans, but that will also create opportunity for flesh-and-blood workers. "In our latest study, we estimate average fast food establishment will switch 1.2 workers from counter service to other tasks as remote order taking, delivery by robotic applications grow," he wrote.Ī change is coming and Fred Goff, CEO of Jobcase, a social media platform helping workers without college degrees find meaningful jobs, believes workers should embrace it. Restaurants at airports or similar locations that provide a captive audience but no loyalty except for brand loyalty will find automation necessary and valued by customers - faster is better." It's already happeningĭonald Mazzela, a board member of the non-profit National Robotics Education Foundation, said his group has been looking at the issue of robots in restaurants for three years, noting that robotic interaction is being taught in culinary and hospitality courses throughout the world. Fast-food franchises located anywhere are finding its customers value automation.
"Whether a restaurant becomes partially or fully automated should depend on its customers and locations. "Automation would occur at much lower labor costs than exist today or in the future but automation costs money," he said, noting that the expense will lower over time. Starbucks, for example, has used automation to allow it to move workers into making drinks rather than taking orders, but it has not yet cut its workforce in any meaningful way.Ĭarone said that the idea that restaurants are automating due to labor costs is only partially true. It's not a question of whether automation will come it's one of whether it will make stores more efficient or allow them to get rid of human workers. It may not be a fantastic utopia where Rosie from The Jetsons does our laundry, but robot/automated technology has clearly infiltrated fast food. McDonald's has been testing ordering kiosks, Domino's has numerous ways to place an order that do not involve talking with a human being, and Starbucks ( SBUX 2.59%) has used technology to shift employees away from order taking to put them into production. But fast food, along with shipping warehouses, has become a hotbed for robots and other automated technology. We never see a disgruntled, order-taking bot working at McDonald's ( MCD 0.21%) or Domino's ( DPZ 2.15%) cast off its virtual hairnet to gain sentience and overthrow its fast-food overlord. The robots in movies and science fiction books that rise up to take over the world generally are able to do so because we have placed them in charge of missiles, defense systems, and other military technology. Robots may become a reality in fast-food restaurants.
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