Minimum Wage $15hr....Meet Your Replacement

[RW]

And when no one can afford a burger, they'll whine.

Don't raise minimum wage and you'll get your cheap burger.

Minimum wage is reactionary.  What part of that don't you understand?

Well thank you very much FDR. Go ahead and raise minimum wage and there will be more technology replacing the kids at Mickey D's. End of story.

I know.  Capitalism and greed know no bounds.  They will see the error of their ways....eventually.

[Anonymous]

Would it be so bad if technology replaced some service jobs?

[RW]

Would it be so bad if your job was replaced by a computer?

[Anonymous]

Would it be so bad if your job was replaced by a computer?

But, a lot of Subway and Tim Horton's franchisees hire foreign workers because Canadian born do not want or apply for those kind of jobs..



My job would have many applicants.

[RW]

But I'm saying, should you be replaced by a computer?

[Anonymous]

Raise the minimum wage all you want and it will hasten the push to more automation. Face it, fast food jobs will disappear in the future.



Robots Will Replace Fast Food Workers

As protesters across the country call for the fast-food chains to raise their wages, a number of companies have begun experimenting with new technology that could significantly reduce the number of restaurant workers in the years to come.

Restaurant industry backers warn that a sharp rise in wages would be counterproductive, increasing the appeal of automation and putting more workers at risk of job loss.



In a widely cited paper released last year, University of Oxford researchers estimated that there is a 92% chance that fast-food preparation and serving will be automated in the coming decades.

With artificial-intelligence technology like IBM's (IBM) Watson platform making strides in advanced reasoning and language understanding, it's not hard to see how robots could be designed to provide more sophisticated interactions with restaurant customers than kiosks can manage.

Delivery drivers could be replaced en masse by self-driving cars, which are likely to hit the market within a decade or two, or even drones. In food preparation, there are start-ups offering robots for bartending and gourmet hamburger preparation. A food processing company in Spain now uses robots to inspect heads of lettuce on a conveyor belt, throwing out those that don't meet company standards, the Oxford researchers report.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technology/innovation/fast-food-robot/">http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technol ... ood-robot/">http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technology/innovation/fast-food-robot/

[Anonymous]

Raise the minimum wage all you want and it will hasten the push to more automation. Face it, fast food jobs will disappear in the future.



Robots Will Replace Fast Food Workers

As protesters across the country call for the fast-food chains to raise their wages, a number of companies have begun experimenting with new technology that could significantly reduce the number of restaurant workers in the years to come.

Restaurant industry backers warn that a sharp rise in wages would be counterproductive, increasing the appeal of automation and putting more workers at risk of job loss.



In a widely cited paper released last year, University of Oxford researchers estimated that there is a 92% chance that fast-food preparation and serving will be automated in the coming decades.

With artificial-intelligence technology like IBM's (IBM) Watson platform making strides in advanced reasoning and language understanding, it's not hard to see how robots could be designed to provide more sophisticated interactions with restaurant customers than kiosks can manage.

Delivery drivers could be replaced en masse by self-driving cars, which are likely to hit the market within a decade or two, or even drones. In food preparation, there are start-ups offering robots for bartending and gourmet hamburger preparation. A food processing company in Spain now uses robots to inspect heads of lettuce on a conveyor belt, throwing out those that don't meet company standards, the Oxford researchers report.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technology/innovation/fast-food-robot/">http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technol ... ood-robot/">http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/22/technology/innovation/fast-food-robot/

I accept that jobs change or become extinct over time.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe most people will pay more money for a service they can easily do themselves. Raise the price of a dark roast at Starbuck's and I will use a machine to pay for it and then pour it myself.

[Lance Leftardashian]

We must increase the minimum wage to help struggling families.

[Anonymous]

We must increase the minimum wage to help struggling families.

I am not an economist Lance, but it's not quite that easy to help people in need..



Raising the minimum wage does not help a small restaurant owner that has a family and is struggling too.

[Annie]

There's always a downfall to what seems to be a solution.

[Anonymous]

There's always a downfall to what seems to be a solution.

That is true GrAnnie..



I know it's not relevant to the topic, but when is your grandchild due?

[RW]

I don't believe most people will pay more money for a service they can easily do themselves. Raise the price of a dark roast at Starbuck's and I will use a machine to pay for it and then pour it myself.

LOL! Starbucks.  Do you know what the profit margin is on coffee?!  I don't know why we gripe about paying the poor folks who pour your coffee an extra 20c an hour but we have no problem lining the pockets of CEOs and shareholders. The CEO of Starbucks is worth $2.8 BILLION btw making $149 million from salary and cashing in his stock options last year (he owns 18 million shares yet).  Shareholders received $1.2 BILLION in dividends last year. Why don't you get up and arms about that?



I saw two things raise the price of my cup of coffee and neither related to minimum wage increases.  One was the introduction of the HST.  When the HST was pulled, prices didn't go back down either.  The second was the increases in fuel costs.



If services in these huge corps do get automated, it's to make sure the lining of the pockets of CEOs and shareholders remain golden not because Jimmy who pours your coffee makes a few extra cents an hour.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe most people will pay more money for a service they can easily do themselves. Raise the price of a dark roast at Starbuck's and I will use a machine to pay for it and then pour it myself.

LOL! Starbucks.  Do you know what the profit margin is on coffee?!  I don't know why we gripe about paying the poor folks who pour your coffee an extra 20c an hour but we have no problem lining the pockets of CEOs and shareholders. The CEO of Starbucks is worth $2.8 BILLION btw making $149 million from salary and cashing in his stock options last year (he owns 18 million shares yet).  Shareholders received $1.2 BILLION in dividends last year. Why don't you get up and arms about that?



I saw two things raise the price of my cup of coffee and neither related to minimum wage increases.  One was the introduction of the HST.  When the HST was pulled, prices didn't go back down either.  The second was the increases in fuel costs.



If services in these huge corps do get automated, it's to make sure the lining of the pockets of CEOs and shareholders remain golden not because Jimmy who pours your coffee makes a few extra cents an hour.

I don't know or care what any employee from Starbucks from the CEO on down earns. It's none of my business. I do know if they keep raising prices for things I am more than capable of doing myself, I would be more than happy to pour my own and pay by machine. Their dark roast is pretty good, but not good enough that I am willing to pay 20-35 per cent more for it.

[RW]

I don't believe most people will pay more money for a service they can easily do themselves. Raise the price of a dark roast at Starbuck's and I will use a machine to pay for it and then pour it myself.

LOL! Starbucks.  Do you know what the profit margin is on coffee?!  I don't know why we gripe about paying the poor folks who pour your coffee an extra 20c an hour but we have no problem lining the pockets of CEOs and shareholders. The CEO of Starbucks is worth $2.8 BILLION btw making $149 million from salary and cashing in his stock options last year (he owns 18 million shares yet).  Shareholders received $1.2 BILLION in dividends last year. Why don't you get up and arms about that?



I saw two things raise the price of my cup of coffee and neither related to minimum wage increases.  One was the introduction of the HST.  When the HST was pulled, prices didn't go back down either.  The second was the increases in fuel costs.



If services in these huge corps do get automated, it's to make sure the lining of the pockets of CEOs and shareholders remain golden not because Jimmy who pours your coffee makes a few extra cents an hour.

I don't know or care what any employee from Starbucks from the CEO on down earns. I do know if they keep raising prices for things I am more than capable of doing myself, I would be more than happy to pour my own and pay by machine. Their dark roast is pretty good, but not good enough that I am willing to pay 20-35 per cent more for it.

Are they charging you more for it?  If so, why should their greed mean people should lose their jobs?