The picture below is of the new self-service checkout registers at my local Publix supermarket. They went online yesterday. There are six of these registers, staffed by one employee. For those of you unfamiliar with Publix, this is huge. Publix is known for service. Its employees are not permitted to accept tips. This is obviously intended to cut costs at the expense of reduced customer service.
This is what happens when the voters approve a near doubling of the minimum wage. At some point, it becomes cheaper to buy automation than it does to pay for more labor. The real minimum wage is zero. How many jobs will this eliminate? How many employee hours were eliminated?
Congratulations, you just voted yourself out of a job.
3 Comments
Steve · March 6, 2021 at 10:46 pm
Steak ‘n Shake is axing indoor staff as well.
https://fox59.com/news/steak-n-shake-replaces-table-service-with-self-serve-kiosks/
Beans · March 7, 2021 at 1:48 am
Yep. And the scary part? The beancounters have calculated that the increase in theft from people not scanning things properly is still more affordable than paying those inflated wages.
Where will people get their ‘start’ in the job market?
Oh, wait, that’s right. It’s not about improving the laborers’ lot, nope. It’s all about actually increasing the number of people on the Government Dole.
Like the increase of people on Social Security Disability during the Obama years, as jobs shrunk across the nation and the only way people could find money was to, well, get declared disabled. SSDI income isn’t great, but when one is staring at being perpetually unemployed (like an older person, someone with non-debilitating health issues (allergies and such)) any little bit looks good.
AC47spooky · March 7, 2021 at 10:53 am
Our Publix markets in this area have had self-check lines for more than year. The Neighborhood Walmart grocery near us just went to ALL self check … there are no people performing checkout there.
Pretty obvious that this is socialism at it’s best — it is not free-market operating conditions.
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