New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
MAKING CHANGE
Automation causes concerns for fast-food jobs
As fast-food restaurant chains take steps toward the future of customer service, workers are concerned whether that will include them.
Chain brands such as Subway and McDonald’s have been rolling out plans to transform thousands of restaurant locations nationwide, boasting new designs and layouts. The marquee upgrades, however, are the addition of selfserve kiosks and, in McDonald’s case, a new delivery option in collaboration with Uber Eats.
“Customer expectations are constantly evolving, and we need to evolve with them,” said Angele Busch, McDonald’s brand reputation manager, U.S. communications.
The recently announced plans project an investment of roughly $84 million to modernize 90 Connecticut restaurant locations over the next couple of years, which is part of a two-year, $6 billion effort to improve most U.S. locations.
That digital evolution has people worried that it may come at the expense of jobs, an outcome Busch and McDonald’s executives have said would not happen.
As restaurants step further into the digital age, Busch said staff members will place a higher emphasis on hospitality by focusing on table service, greeting guests and assisting with technological additions.
The newly created Guest Experience Leader role will be one such position.
“By bringing restaurant employees out from behind the counter, their personalities come through; they truly enjoy being able to engage with our guests with table service and create feel-good moments like helping parents to their tables, delivering their meals or getting essentials to make their dining experience better,” Busch said.
Workers replaced
Though the fast-food pioneer has maintained that the latest additions to locations are focused on improving customer experiences, experts on the labor side suggest the new upgrades may have a different purpose .
“I think the kiosks are designed to replace workers,” said Lindsay Farrell, director of the Connecticut Working Families Party in Connecticut, a political organization that advocates for workers and wages.
Though upfront cost of kiosks may be more, she said over time they would cost less than the labor, which is one of the costliest operating expenses for any brand.
Companies’ pursuit of increased productivity and sales over the years have been dealing blows to the workforce for years, Farrell said, particularly as the state of minimum wage remains a topic of tension.
“Wages just have not kept up with productivity,” Farrell added. “The minimum wage would be somewhere over 20 dollars if it had kept up with productivity since the 1960s. … This is not a new trend and we’ve seen (re-
peatedly) that large profitable organizations like McDonald’s or big-box stores and franchises will do anything to save a few pennies here and there and improve their profit margin.”
Addressing challenges
With upgrades in the works, McDonalds has set out to improve production and efficiency and ultimately boost sales and revenue, which decreased by 12 percent last quarter.
While opting to integrating more technological components to quick service restaurants, or QSRs, may bode well for their bottom line, that may not be the case on the labor side of things, experts said.
One of the bigger challenges the restaurant industry is facing centers around expenses and minimum wage, according to Scott Dolch, director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association.
“It’s a challenge when you look at restaurants,” he said. “All restaurants really work off of a three, or four, or five percent profit margin and labor costs are one of the biggest costs — if not
the biggest costs — that a restaurant has.”
That doesn’t just affect fast food, but the entire industry that has been increasing in Connecticut in recent years.
As QSR brands look to outdo competitors and match consumer demand, Dolch said that will open the door to continued technological integration.
For chains that have embraced automation, the addition of kiosks, and ordering apps increases efficiency and speed, cuts down on wait time in line, and provides customers greater customization options.
That may prove to be more profitable, but it also serves as foreshadowing for workers, particularly cashiers.
Though McDonald’s has maintained automation would not result in staff cuts, professor Joshua Shuart, chairman of the marketing department at Sacred Heart University, suggested the contrary.
“There will always be a need for some actual staff, but I firmly believe, as do others, that with increased efficiency will come reduced staff,” he said.