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McDonald's Kiosks Are The New Cashiers

Xelor said:
Quite simply, the bar for what skills one must have to obtain employment is rising. It's true of adults who want high-paying jobs and, based on what the McDonald's kiosks portend, it is as well for kids and others seeking entry-level positions.

It's really a matter of of one of the foundational assumptions of economics -- that buyers and sellers act out of self-interested rationality -- made manifold. Rational behavior requires one to be adept at logical thinking, applying sound/cogent logic and then acting accordingly. For folks who lack in-demand skills for which they can be compensated satisfactorily there are only a few economically rational choices:
  • Acquiesce to a life of penury.
  • Obtain and perfect one or more in-demand skills.
  • Move to a locality where the skills one has are in demand.
McDonald's cashier kiosks are but the most recent "writing on the wall" advising everyone that having only as much skill as is needed to be fast food restaurant will no longer "cut the mustard," so to speak. It really doesn't matter whether one likes that that is so; the world is moving on with or without one. One can either move with the world, or be left behind.


Hawkeye10 said:
McD's claims that their average hourly worker is 20 but I dont believe them, the government says that the average fast food worker is 29.

https://www.theatlantic.com/busines...fast-food-workers-are-raising-a-child/278424/

https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/...-the-average-age-of-a-mcdonalds-employee.html
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  • 20-29 still counts as "kids" to me, but that it does isn't really relevant.
  • Why would McD's lie? It's not as though they get some benefit from doing so. It's also not as though the industry or major firms like McDonald's is trying to hide the nature of the fast food restaurant business from people:
  • "The average fast food worker" and the "average hourly worker" at McDonald's aren't the same things.
    • I don't know how the government qualifies "fast food restaurant." I know in the restaurant industry, restaurants fall into two broad categories -- limited service and full service -- that are further delineated by format. Fast food called "quick/fast service restaurants" (QSR). The industry also has a classification called "fast casual" that sits between QSR and "casual dining." I suspect that many folks think of some "fast casual" restaurants as "fast food restaurants" and others as not-fast-food restaurants.
    • The government's figure likely includes anyone who works in a fast food restaurant. It may even include the owners of them who also work in their stores, which, if it does, would explain the 29 year-old figure you mentioned.
I think the figure McDonald's has cited about their labor force and the figure the government cited are likely both accurate.

Hawkeye10 said:
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/...-the-average-age-of-a-mcdonalds-employee.html
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Did you notice that the reference to which you linked is McDonald's UK, not McDonald's U.S. or McDonald's worldwide?

Why did you cite a U.K. reference? Judging from the remarks in this thread's OP, one sees the geographical context of the discussion is implicitly the U.S.
 
Xelor said:
  • 20-29 still counts as "kids" to me, but that it does isn't really relevant.
  • Why would McD's lie? It's not as though they get some benefit from doing so. It's also not as though the industry or major firms like McDonald's is trying to hide the nature of the fast food restaurant business from people:
  • "The average fast food worker" and the "average hourly worker" at McDonald's aren't the same things.
    • I don't know how the government qualifies "fast food restaurant." I know in the restaurant industry, restaurants fall into two broad categories -- limited service and full service -- that are further delineated by format. Fast food called "quick/fast service restaurants" (QSR). The industry also has a classification called "fast casual" that sits between QSR and "casual dining." I suspect that many folks think of some "fast casual" restaurants as "fast food restaurants" and others as not-fast-food restaurants.
    • The government's figure likely includes anyone who works in a fast food restaurant. It may even include the owners of them who also work in their stores, which, if it does, would explain the 29 year-old figure you mentioned.
I think the figure McDonald's has cited about their labor force and the figure the government cited are likely both accurate.


Did you notice that the reference to which you linked is McDonald's UK, not McDonald's U.S. or McDonald's worldwide?

Why did you cite a U.K. reference? Judging from the remarks in this thread's OP, one sees the geographical context of the discussion is implicitly the U.S.
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Nope, that would be my error, and that would explain everything.
 
JacksinPA said:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/venessawon...-restaurants?utm_term=.pwPQYQwNXP#.mpXDZDjMEk

A few thousand more McDonald's restaurants will have self-order kiosks by the end of the year.



McDonald's will roll out self-order kiosks to 1,000 stores every quarter for the next two years, according to CEO Steve Easterbrook.

The kiosks were already in roughly 3,500 US McDonald's restaurants as of March, or about one-fourth of its domestic stores. They will be in about half of US restaurants by the end of 2018 and in all stores by 2020. McDonald's locations in Australia, Canada, and the UK are even further along in kiosk usage.

Customers who use the kiosks tend to browse the menu and order more, Easterbrook told CNBC this week, adding, "There's a little bit of an average check boost."
====================================================
That rushing sound you hear is the wake left behind by the cashiers heading for the unemployment office.
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No shock, this conversation has come u before I'm actually surprised its taking this long. A company around here called sheetz has been using these for a long time and its great. Even thier drive through works that way, less screw ups and better service. It just another cycle of technology.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
I have no idea where your head is at but I point out that I said that they spent north of $300,000 to change the look of the stores, which a true statement from at Truth Teller.

You could be nicer I hope you know.
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This was entirely my fault. I read "locks" when you wrote "looks" in post # 2. I apologize.

Half a mill per store is still a good deal.
 
Common Sense 1 said:
That is what happens when people demand $15 an hour to flip hamburgers!
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or who demand to be paid at all or who can get sick injured tired out and make more mistake because of it who are not available to work at all times your store is open

business is not going to turn away form automation its better then slave labour for them let alone minimum wage
 
MateoMtnClimber said:
Finally. Human brains should be focused on creating and solving, not sweeping floors and pushing buttons that correspond to the words that other people tell them.
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but im not good at creating and solving
 
McDonald's Kiosks Are The New Cashiers
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I think this is a new twist on an old idea; at the risk of dating myself, it reminds me of the old Automats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat

They were pretty common from the early 1900's to the early 1990's, and I remember eating at them many times when I was younger.
 
MateoMtnClimber said:
Finally. Human brains should be focused on creating and solving, not sweeping floors and pushing buttons that correspond to the words that other people tell them.
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Perhaps, but the issue is dealing with the people in these 5th income quintile jobs who need assistance participating in the economy in a different way.

The last thing we need is more economic isolation for a group that is somewhat on the outside looking in already.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
The stores around here are being gutted to make room for them, as well as other interior changes....this is just a few years after they spent something North of $300,000 per store to change their looks.

The main thing is that people are fixated on "New" and they want to deal with other humans as little as possible.

We really do suck that bad now.
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Human cashiers suck. Bring on the bots!
 
calamity said:
Human cashiers suck. Bring on the bots!
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That is the way a huge number almost certainly a majority of people are now in the a lot of places, every opportunity to rub out the need for a human iteration in a day is a win.

Its a bad sign about this society I hope you understand.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
That is the way a huge number almost certainly a majority of people are now in the a lot of places, every opportunity to rub out the need for a human iteration in a day is a win.

Its a bad sign about this society I hope you understand.
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I am more than happy to nowadays put my card into a gas pump and get my fill-up without dealing with any lines, people or the need to walk into the store at all. But, I certainly remember when a gas jockey job was a gateway into the working world. Has everything turned to **** just because high school kids no longer pump people's gas and check their oil?

McCashier jobs are absolutely on the way out. Why lament progress?
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Here McDonald's will take your food to your table when it is ready. Hot and fresh which is better than when i worked there.
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Your car outside too, w/ the app. If they don't have drive through or that line is too long for ya.
 
OrphanSlug said:
Perhaps, but the issue is dealing with the people in these 5th income quintile jobs who need assistance participating in the economy in a different way.

The last thing we need is more economic isolation for a group that is somewhat on the outside looking in already.
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That is precisely what much of the "safety net" program spending is doing now.

The United States has dramatically increased federal spending fighting poverty over the last 50 years. Total welfare costs have risen from $422 per person in poverty in 1960 to $18,013 per person in 2016. That totals $72,050 for a family of four even though the Poverty Threshold for such a family is $24,563.
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Poverty and spending over the years - Federal Safety Net
 
OrphanSlug said:
Perhaps, but the issue is dealing with the people in these 5th income quintile jobs who need assistance participating in the economy in a different way.

The last thing we need is more economic isolation for a group that is somewhat on the outside looking in already.
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I agree with that. We should be focused on education and job training, not clinging to outdated jobs and dying industries.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
That is the way a huge number almost certainly a majority of people are now in the a lot of places, every opportunity to rub out the need for a human iteration in a day is a win.

Its a bad sign about this society I hope you understand.
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It's called technological advancement. The people working as cashiers at McDonald's would be working on farms if those jobs hadn't been replaced by machines.
 
calamity said:
I am more than happy to nowadays put my card into a gas pump and get my fill-up without dealing with any lines, people or the need to walk into the store at all. But, I certainly remember when a gas jockey job was a gateway into the working world. Has everything turned to **** just because high school kids no longer pump people's gas and check their oil?

McCashier jobs are absolutely on the way out. Why lament progress?
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It's something old people do.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
That is the way a huge number almost certainly a majority of people are now in the a lot of places, every opportunity to rub out the need for a human iteration in a day is a win.

Its a bad sign about this society I hope you understand.
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That (bolded above) might make more sense as human interaction but I tend to agree. With ever more assistance being available via automated and/or online sources one can shop for, pay for and receive delivery of products to their doorstep without ever interacting directly with any person. As an added benefit, the payment of state/local sales tax is often avoided as well.

Customer assistance apps are available to locate items offered for sale in many of the brick and mortar stores - no longer must you wander the aisles in search of where some marketing genius decided to place (hide?) the popcorn, wasp spray or zip-ties. Rather than rely on the 'expert' opinion/assistance of some store clerk (if you can even find one), one can get product reviews and, once a specific product has been selected (identified?), the price of that specific item from a variety of retail vendors.
 
MateoMtnClimber said:
It's called technological advancement. The people working as cashiers at McDonald's would be working on farms if those jobs hadn't been replaced by machines.
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Or foreign nationals that lack (for now) access to "safety net" programs as an alternative to hard work for a low wage.
 
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