OPINION:
No longer just a hallmark of science fiction films, robots are becoming an integral part of the 21st-century workforce. But rather than being bound by the traditional repetitive-motion tasks of manufacturing, this new generation of tech is flipping burgers, brewing coffee and tossing salads.
Over the past decade, automated machinery — like fast food robots — has grown cheaper and more efficient, with prices dropping as the minimum wage for less-skilled human labor continues to rise. For companies looking to manage higher employment costs while maintaining their bottom line, this is great news. The same can’t be said for entry-level workers.
The average fast food restaurant in the United States has 15 employees at any given time. If you account for the typical rate of turnover at these jobs — three times per year — that’s 45 job opportunities for people with limited skills or experience per store. This translates into over 11 million fast food starter job opportunities nationwide that are provided by business operators who are employing increasing amounts of technology and automation.
This future is now. At least five fully-automated food service companies have already opened across the United States. By shifting the model entirely to automated self-service, these companies have essentially rendered human workers superfluous.
One engineer developed a burger vendor in San Francisco called “Creator.” The robo-chef cuts, butters, and toasts the bun, seasons a freshly ground patty in perfect proportions, chops vegetables and plates the dish — hold the human interaction. “Flippy,” Dodger Stadium’s burger-flipping robot, has expanded its skillset to the deep fryer. And Chowbotics, the creator of “Sally” the salad robot, raised $17.3 million in funding to expand its fully automated salad-making machine to 20 locations.
Despite some cartoonish names, these advances in productivity are far from juvenile inventions. They’re serious pieces of machinery attracting attention from employers and investors alike who are eager to avoid labor cost mandates that cannot be easily offset by increased prices.
The examples of cost-cutting are numerous. Citing rising labor costs, the CEO of Jack in the Box said the fast-food chain will consider replacing cashiers with self-order kiosks. Earlier this year, Red Robin announced their plan to eliminate busboys — saving the company an estimated $8 million — on top of the $10 million the chain already saved by cutting jobs for kitchen staff.
Wendy’s has pledged to install self-serve kiosks in 1,000 locations. With an upfront investment of $15,000 per store, Wendy’s expects the kiosks to pay for themselves in saved costs after only two years.
Even seemingly basic automation — ordering coffee from an app, for instance poses a threat to entry-level jobs. If all Dunkin’ Donuts customers ordered and paid using their mobile phones, the company’s CEO said the chain would be able to cut 30 percent of in-store labor.
Those savings are a relief value for companies who cannot get customers to absorb huge labor cost hikes. Yet they represent thousands of lost entry-level salaries. Young workers run the highest risk of having jobs automated away from them. They tend to choose low-skilled jobs, like food service, not out of desire but necessity: As inexperienced workers, they have to start somewhere. Once those starter jobs disappear, there will be fewer low rungs on the job ladder for those who need a break.
There’s merit in keeping these jobs around. Almost 20 percent of those aged 20 or younger work in elementary occupations — including food service. Studies have shown that teenagers who work part-time are more likely to succeed in the future — and it’s not because they’re learning how to flip the perfect burger. Entry level jobs help employees pick up important “soft skills” such as customer service, punctuality and time management. These skills create a foundation that helps workers move on to better paying jobs in the future. You might think every young job applicant is already “job ready.” Ask an employer of youth for some eye-opening stories. When it comes to saving these jobs, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. If we want to avoid seeing low-skilled jobs cannibalized by automation, yet still insist on $15 minimum wage, there are fewer options for having someone pick up the tab. Incredibly, some economists ignore these marketplace realities by suggesting they don’t exist. It reminds one of the old punchline, “Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?”
If the price of unskilled human labor keeps going up, entry-level workers will be the first left behind.
• Richard Berman is the president of Berman and Co., a public relations firm in Washington, D.C.
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