McDonalds opens first fully automated (save kitchen) restaurant in lieu of raising wages

[Jman]

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/mcdonalds-fully-automated/

https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/mcdonalds-testing-digital-only-restaurant

It's essentially a drive-thru box with no indoor dining, no Playplace, etc.  I haven't eaten at McDonalds in years, mind you, but this seems designed to avoid the issues of a regular fast food place, disgusting bathrooms, unclean dining areas, uppity teens wanting money, etc.

[SwimModSponges]

Goddamn machines amirite?

[The_annoying_one]

You mean I could get shitty food without having to deal with shitty people.

Sign me up!

[Master-Debater131]

Just one step closer to the inevitable

 

 

[Doom Metal Alchemist]

They're gonna lose a lot of business if people on long road trips cant stop there to use the bathroom anymore (because there will be no bathroom.... other than for the kitchen staff.... at least hopefully the kitchen staff will get a bathroom...)

[NewBluntsworth]

Horrible. We need these fast food dining rooms to use the bathroom and charge our phones and seek shelter. 

Sounds like the taco bell near me. They often lock up the dining room in the middle of the day and make it drive thru only, and if you do get inside they insist you use the kiosk to order. 

[Chapinator_X]

McDonalds would rather turn their restaurants into oversized vending machines than pay their employees a livable wage. 

[katt_goddess]

I swear they already tried this. I think there was an 'automated' McD's in either the Cities airport or one of the ones at Hartsfield-Jackson. It was buggy af and couldn't seem to keep functioning for the time it needed to be functioning [ which, it's an airport so it needs to be working as long as there's food in the back ]. Pretty sure it got punted because I haven't seen it since. 

[rpgamer]

...Is automating jobs a bad thing?

Surely the more we can automate, the closer we can get to UBI.

[Jman]

4 minutes ago, rpgamer said:

...Is automating jobs a bad thing?

Surely the more we can automate, the closer we can get to UBI.

[PenguinBoss]

29 minutes ago, rpgamer said:

...Is automating jobs a bad thing?

Surely the more we can automate, the closer we can get to UBI.

I'm sure the lobbying class would LOVE that.

I saw tweet that in the past, automation was seen as great because people would work 1% as much for the same pay, but now, realistically, it's a way for the people highest up to make 100x the profit.

[Seight]

This will have a drastic effect on the "tables what have plastic chairs attached to them" industry.

[Raptorpat]

21 hours ago, rpgamer said:

...Is automating jobs a bad thing?

Surely the more we can automate, the closer we can get to UBI.

I tend to speculate (obviously from a position of privilege) that companies following through their threats to automate would force the UBI issue. If they honestly think they can provide the same level of service or better, then the business should be able to test the water if the powers that be are also willing to figure out how to restructure the economy.

Though obviously I'm being extremely theoretical because it's super messy. Like building a new McD's that's automated is different than reworking an old McD's and laying off the staff.

21 hours ago, PenguinBoss said:

I saw tweet that in the past, automation was seen as great because people would work 1% as much for the same pay, but now, realistically, it's a way for the people highest up to make 100x the profit.

I think an automation tax is the theoretical remedy to that.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

On 12/22/2022 at 4:26 PM, Chapinator_X said:

McDonalds would rather turn their restaurants into oversized vending machines than pay their employees a livable wage. 

Fast food and certain other service jobs were never intended to support entire families.  They're stepping stones for inexperienced teenagers to get some work experience while attending high school.

 

If your goal is to be in business, you need to know how things work at the very lowest level of that business as well as at the middle or top.

 

Just like, you can't be a sergeant or a general until you go to boot camp as a private.

What we are looking at is the chasm between senior management and labor that has been fostered over the decades by academia.  In academia, the front line is ignored as irrelevant.

[stilgar]

Who works at the fast food place when the teenagers are at school asshole?

[katt_goddess]

4 minutes ago, stilgar said:

Who works at the fast food place when the teenagers are at school asshole?

Steve Buscemi. Duh.

[Raptorpat]

Quote

In my Inaugural I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.

 

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

24 minutes ago, Raptorpat said:

 

So, everyone who washes cars gets a Bentley of his own?

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

48 minutes ago, stilgar said:

Who works at the fast food place when the teenagers are at school asshole?

They can do both.  Eight TEEN in college can do night class and work Mickey D's in the day.

[katt_goddess]

11 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

So, everyone who washes cars gets a Bentley of his own?

The person who washes the cars should at least be able to own a car of their own. Instead, the ones washing the cars ride the bus and get drunk on their breaks because washing cars sucks.  

8 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

They can do both.  Eight TEEN in college can do night class and work Mickey D's in the day.

Dude, you never did both at any point in your life and you know it. Further, you've just moved the goalpost from 'only teenagers' work McD's for the experience points to 'college-aged' working McD's during the day and going to night classes. And when do they sleep, numbnuts? When do they study or write papers? I've done the day and night job thing - you burn out in a month and your system crashes hard. 

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

1 hour ago, katt_goddess said:

The person who washes the cars should at least be able to own a car of their own. Instead, the ones washing the cars ride the bus and get drunk on their breaks because washing cars sucks.  

Dude, you never did both at any point in your life and you know it. Further, you've just moved the goalpost from 'only teenagers' work McD's for the experience points to 'college-aged' working McD's during the day and going to night classes. And when do they sleep, numbnuts? When do they study or write papers? I've done the day and night job thing - you burn out in a month and your system crashes hard. 

Teens are from thirteen to nineteen.  Under eighteen?  There are after school, part time and weekend hours to work.

[André Toulon]

An economics lesson from a middle school dropout....do y'all miss jingo yet

[scoobdog]

41 minutes ago, André Toulon said:

An economics lesson from a middle school dropout....do y'all miss jingo yet

No.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

2 hours ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Teens are from thirteen to nineteen.  Under eighteen?  There are after school, part time and weekend hours to work.

Plenty of people work full time and go to college at the same time.  And, they do it successfully.  My favorite lawyer did.  Over forty years with his own practice now and hasn't skipped a beat.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

3 hours ago, katt_goddess said:

The person who washes the cars should at least be able to own a car of their own. Instead, the ones washing the cars ride the bus and get drunk on their breaks because washing cars sucks.  

Dude, you never did both at any point in your life and you know it. Further, you've just moved the goalpost from 'only teenagers' work McD's for the experience points to 'college-aged' working McD's during the day and going to night classes. And when do they sleep, numbnuts? When do they study or write papers? I've done the day and night job thing - you burn out in a month and your system crashes hard. 

Okay, so when you want the guy who washes cars to have his own car, why not push your government to do something about the cost of a car?  Gas?  Open those pipelines.  Insurance?  Insurance payments are higher than the purchase payments in some states.  Why not break up the insurance monopolies?  Raising the man's wages won't do anything but raise the cost of a hot wax to thirty dollars.

[Doom Metal Alchemist]

4 hours ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Okay, so when you want the guy who washes cars to have his own car, why not push your government to do something about the cost of a car?  Gas?  Open those pipelines.  Insurance?  Insurance payments are higher than the purchase payments in some states.  Why not break up the insurance monopolies?  Raising the man's wages won't do anything but raise the cost of a hot wax to thirty dollars.

So now what you are saying is minimum wage workers DO in fact deserve a living wage, there's just better ways to fix the problem?

[Seight]

3 hours ago, Doom Metal Alchemist said:

So now what you are saying is minimum wage workers DO in fact deserve a living wage, there's just better ways to fix the problem?

(I can just feel that we're in range for "the dumbest thing he's ever said," I just know it)

[scoobdog]

1 minute ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Well, duh.

Anyway, he can just as easily fire those people and pocket the money.  But, he wants to spend less time with office chores and more time arguing his cases in court.

There you go @Seight....

[Gemini]

I'd rather have Jack in the Box anyway. Sourdough Jack, anyone?

[katt_goddess]

18 hours ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Okay, so when you want the guy who washes cars to have his own car, why not push your government to do something about the cost of a car?  Gas?  Open those pipelines.  Insurance?  Insurance payments are higher than the purchase payments in some states.  Why not break up the insurance monopolies?  Raising the man's wages won't do anything but raise the cost of a hot wax to thirty dollars.

The high costs of everything [ aka inflation ] are a direct result of rich people/corporations wanting every last penny for profit and not caring who gets screwed. Car companies are currently putting out, not small affordable vehicles, but great big gas-guzzling shits they can charge the absolute most for. Oil companies deliberately pull back their production in order to demand 'incentives' to produce - like paying even less in taxes and being allowed to use public landfills for their radioactive bullshit - and yet they made billions in profit last year. The insurance companies would get reined in if the costs of things could be reined in but they don't wanna. And all these rich monsters have money to spend on politicians to ensure they don't get their asses handed to them through things like anti-price gouging legislation.

10 hours ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

What does any skilled lawyer get?

20 to life if they defend the wrong client.   

[EmpressAngel]

18 hours ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

My favorite lawyer did. 

Genuine question, what the fuck kind of dysfunction do you suffer from that you have a favorite lawyer?

[The_annoying_one]

6 minutes ago, EmpressAngel said:

Genuine question, what the fuck kind of dysfunction do you suffer from that you have a favorite lawyer?

Well, I mean, their commercials can be pretty persuasive/entertaining.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

12 minutes ago, EmpressAngel said:

Genuine question, what the fuck kind of dysfunction do you suffer from that you have a favorite lawyer?

He's an old friend, going back decades.  What a character.

[lupin_bebop]

On 12/22/2022 at 10:48 AM, Jman said:

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/mcdonalds-fully-automated/

https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/mcdonalds-testing-digital-only-restaurant

It's essentially a drive-thru box with no indoor dining, no Playplace, etc.  I haven't eaten at McDonalds in years, mind you, but this seems designed to avoid the issues of a regular fast food place, disgusting bathrooms, unclean dining areas, uppity teens wanting money, etc.

So, I know exactly where this McDonald's is. I lived not too far from it, and have a buddy who lives across the street from it. They still have a human staff. They are mostly doing this as a publicity stunt to see how many of the Red State/Pill people freak the fuck out over it. If they don't, then they will probably move onward to more of them. I don't see them replacing their entire fleet of restaurants, however, as they will ALWAYS exploit cheap labor, if it's available.

[lupin_bebop]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:18 PM, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Teens are from thirteen to nineteen.  Under eighteen?  There are after school, part time and weekend hours to work.

And when do they sleep? Eat? Bathe?

[lupin_bebop]

On 2/6/2023 at 5:37 PM, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Fast food and certain other service jobs were never intended to support entire families.  They're stepping stones for inexperienced teenagers to get some work experience while attending high school.

 

If your goal is to be in business, you need to know how things work at the very lowest level of that business as well as at the middle or top.

 

Just like, you can't be a sergeant or a general until you go to boot camp as a private.

What we are looking at is the chasm between senior management and labor that has been fostered over the decades by academia.  In academia, the front line is ignored as irrelevant.

Spoken like a true Boomer of Privilege. Good job. 

[nameraka]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:37 PM, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Fast food and certain other service jobs were never intended to support entire families.  They're stepping stones for inexperienced teenagers to get some work experience while attending high school.

 

If your goal is to be in business, you need to know how things work at the very lowest level of that business as well as at the middle or top.

 

Just like, you can't be a sergeant or a general until you go to boot camp as a private.

What we are looking at is the chasm between senior management and labor that has been fostered over the decades by academia.  In academia, the front line is ignored as irrelevant.

Are we really trying to say that employers care about what social class their jobs are capable of supporting?

Employers don't create jobs to provide people with income. They create jobs to provide themselves with labor. Fast food jobs aren't "intended" for any group other than those who are desperate enough to take low wage jobs. If they end up being stepping stones, that's completely incidental to the employer.