Wendy's to install robotic kiosks across 6,000 restaurants

Looks like the ff restaurant chain Wendy's is going full steam ahead on plans to install victimless robots to fight off the rising minimum wage laws.

Lots of controversy with the minimum wage fights all over the place.

Companies will fight these threats even in areas that can actually support a $15/hour wage.

Some will go with automation, some will just cut workers off with part time and save on benefits.

Wendy's to install robotic kiosks across 6,000 restaurants thanks to the 'fight for $15'

Wendy's said that self-service ordering kiosks will be made available across its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year as minimum wage hikes and a tight labor market push up wages.

It will be up to franchisees whether to deploy the labor-saving technology, but Wendy’s President Todd Penegor did note that some franchise locations have been raising prices to offset wage hikes.

McDonald’s (MCD) has been testing self-service kiosks. But Wendy’s, which has been vocal about embracing labor-saving technology, is launching the biggest potential expansion.

$0 wage increase --

the Free Market Law

MOD EDIT
actual source for quote
www.investors.com...

Per usual, the liberals are so caught up in short sided progressive emotion, they don't see the bigger picture.

Technology is and will continue to replace jobs across this country but spiking the minimum wage for jobs a machine/robotic kiosk can do instead is going to increase the speed in which companies look for alternatives.

The issue isn't minimum wage but rather, our broken educational system on the back of liberal policy has created more unskilled workers without tools to garner above minimum wage jobs than society can handle.

And they also want even more of them flooding across our borders.

Can't make this stuff up. It's like an SNL skit.

a reply to: xuenchen

Automation could be a good thing and an engine to progress, if it's overhauled because of a minimum wage increase all the better, isn't that a sign of society getting healthier? If everything becomes automated then jobs will open up to service these machines the tech industry will explode. So raise the minimum wage and also drive towards automation what's the problem?

originally posted by: TechniXcality
a reply to: xuenchen

Automation could be a good thing and an engine to progress, if it's overhauled because of a minimum wage increase all the better, isn't that a sign of society getting healthier? If everything becomes automated then jobs will open up to service these machines the tech industry will explode. So raise the minimum wage and also drive towards automation what's the problem?

A problem is the tech industry requires more intellectual tools and knowhow to find employment in than what minimum wage employees have to offer.

There are going to be more and more jobs in the tech industry, but it will pull from a different pool than someone at Wendy's asking "do you want fries with that?".

a reply to: xuenchen

This was inevitable even if there wasn't talk of a minimum wage increase.
All these companies are looking to increase the bottom line and cutting who you have to pay,regardless of how much, accomplishes that.
Also the IBD article goes into how this isn't just because of a wage increase.

Penegor said the reason for softer growth was hard to pinpoint, but he listed a cautious consumer, tougher spring weather in the Northeast, and a wider gap between the cost of food at home vs. food away from home as possible contributors.

Never get why people don't just link to the source article instead of some other site with their spin on it...

What makes people think these new tech jobs will pay little more than minimum wage? It's all about the most profit possible going to a very few.

a reply to: xuenchen

If I were young, I'd be training to be a kiosk-robot-technician.

originally posted by: roadgravel
What makes people think these new tech jobs will pay little more than minimum wage? It's all about the most profit possible going to a very few.

Have you ever looked at salaries in the tech industry, from programming to web development to software engineering to network security?

They pay much, much higher than minimum wage.

And I'd suggest future work in fixing and maintaining robotics would be somewhat similar to previous generation's welders and plumbers and electricians, who make pretty decent money too. Compared to minimum wage at least.

The tech industry will continue to grow but minimum wage jobs will continue to shrink and be replaced. And that's going to be quite a problem for this society down the road. There will be more crime and civil unrest because of it. Combine that will liberal policy of welcoming more and more unskilled immigrants and continued globalization of our workforce and sending jobs overseas, I mean, how can anyone look at it and say it's going to be anything but an enormous problem?

a reply to: xuenchen

Even if companies like Wendy's did not replace a good portion of their work force with machines a raise in minimum wage wouldn't help anyway. In my city the minimum wage was raised to $8.50 last July and will increase to $9.00 this coming July. The result has been skyrocketing prices in gas, groceries, clothing and especially rents. Getting what many fast food workers would consider a major raise has done absolutely no good when the cost of living has increased even more. I consider myself very fortunate to make a considerable amount above that and still live paycheck to paycheck.

a reply to: MysticPearl

I've spent my working life in the tech industry.

Talk to people who work in service of equipment. it's going lower just like many other jobs. These people won't be designing software. they will be changing boards, etc. Not going to be a high end tech job.

originally posted by: roadgravel
a reply to: MysticPearl

I've spent my working life in the tech industry.

Talk to people who work in service of equipment. it's going lower just like many other jobs. These people won't be designing software. they will be changing boards, etc. Not going to be a high end tech job.

It won't be minimum wage either.

Hence why I compared it to welders, electricians and plumbers, jobs which will be a necessity and you can earn a decent living with. The higher end tech jobs require more education which again goes back to our education problems and that by and large, those jobs pull from a different pool than minimum wage workers.

If I had a restaurant, I'd hire young women with large breasts to be my counter help or waitresses.

How do you think "Hooters" would do with with robots?

I won't be going to Wendy's anymore even though I like their chili. I'll just take my business to mom and pop food joint where they will appreciate my patronage.

This is just the beginning. I've already told my kids to get their degrees in robotics, programming etc. Automation will be taking over millions of jobs but you still need people to maintain those machines.

a reply to: Sremmos80

In your opinion, based on your comments, do you think the whole minimum wage increase and livable wage crusade is a red herring?

a reply to: xuenchen

What makes you think it's an increase of minimum wage that's causing this? It might have made it happen a couple years sooner, but eventually the technology would drop in price to the point where it made sense even at the current minimum wage. Those jobs would still be gone either now or 5 years from now.

a reply to: Aazadan

Do you think the crusade is a red herring?

Ask and ye shall receive... what you didn't ask for.

LOL

I mean you basically did, and you didn't even realize it.

What are all these skill-less fast-food employees supposed to turn to now?

You know, the next bit is the fact that when all these Americans can no longer afford to feed their selves at the fast food restaurants because they have become obsoleted from the fast-food market... will the score more than even out for the franchise operators?

I guess that'll play out over the next decade.

The future looks friendly...

Corporations are already securing technology to remove 'extraneous' employees. My husband is in the final stages of creating a software program for his global company that will actually correct many known issues. The contracted companies have already started laying off 1000's of the IT techs, since his first phase monitor program alerts 24 hrs what the problem is and what the highest probability is to fix it. 2nd phase...will actually make code correction and run test, to determine if fixed.

Future generations will have to face that they will have to focus more on how to work within and on these robotic systems to ensure their job security. Most corporations need IT services, but being manufacturer, retailer, or health related had no real sense of their individual IT depts. They laid many off and now, suffered. They hired back or contracted but our seeking new innovative technology that will offset their expenses.

originally posted by: roadgravel
a reply to: MysticPearl

I've spent my working life in the tech industry.

Talk to people who work in service of equipment. it's going lower just like many other jobs. These people won't be designing software. they will be changing boards, etc. Not going to be a high end tech job.

It seems to me that being a kiosk technician wouldn't be much different than the person at Best Buy today who swaps out one graphics card for another for a customer. Just slide circuit boards into and out of sockets that are color/shape coded so that they're idiot proof. Then maybe run some auto piloted software that calibrates things.

That's damn near minimum wage in my opinion. With self driving cars coming you won't even need driving or navigation skills to get to the job site.