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PoliteThaiBeep t1_j6of5h9 wrote

Reply to comment by crua9 in A McDonald’s location has opened in White Settlement, TX, that is almost entirely automated. Since it opened in December 2022, public opinion is mixed. Many are excited but many others are concerned about the impact this could have on millions of low-wage service workers. by Callitaloss

The average number of people working for a fast food restaurant is 17-something (per shift)

Kitchen staff isn't automated yet. Also someone needs to be there to keep things civil to prevent vandalism and what not. Someone needs to clean.

So say 7 people prepare the food, 3 people throw trash out and keep the restaurant clean and other things. And 1 person is a manager. So we still need 11 out of 17

Also keep in mind these productivity boosts have been happening all the time, like today's fast food workers are significantly more productive than fast food workers of 2005. They need less people per restaurant vs 2005. Yet despite this there are more of these workers employed today in the US vs 2005.

That's not that they wouldn't be automated eventually, but let's not exaggerate - at this point it could be in this experimental phase for years just like Amazon go did. They promised thousands of stores and instead 7 years later we have only 30 tiny stores that almost nobody uses.

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crua9 t1_j6onejf wrote

You're looking at today. Look at flippy the robot. The one that cooks burgers. Also vending machines that make pizza and stuff.

It's likely all employees will be replaced at some point and then for security you would use security robots or a handful of people over a number of stores.

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