The headline of the article in the url below is a bit misleading, since there is a crew working behind the scenes, but the implication is clear:
"The first mostly non-human-run McDonald's is open for business just outside Fort Worth, Texas. At just one location so far, customers can drive to the golden arches and expect to be served a Big Mac or a Happy Meal by a food and beverage conveyor instead of an actual, real-life human being."
This is the 'future' for McDonald's and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why the firm is pressing for greater automation – it is a response to increasing calls for the minimum wage in fast-food restaurants to be raised, which would of course increase McDonald's costs:
This creates a conundrum for those advocating for higher minimum wages. Either the stakeholders of those firms are able to signal a willingness to pay higher prices for a personal/human touch, or firms will push for automation wherever they can introduce it. Lowering costs is just another way of becoming more efficient, which is what customers seem to say they want from firms, even though McDonald's currently pays about as low a wage as it is possible to get away with in the US:
"In Texas, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and hasn't increased in nearly a decade. It ranks above only Georgia and Wyoming's minimum wage of $5.15, which is $2.10 less than the US federal minimum wage. Five other states have not adopted a set minimum wage: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. … McDonald's is one of 300 publicly held companies with the lowest median worker wages, according to a 2021 Institute for Policy Studies report."
Take care
David
David Chandler
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Touchscreens, conveyor belts: McDonald's opens first largely automated location
By Erum Salam
December 23, 2022
The Guardian
