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Former McDonald's USA CEO: $35K Robots Cheaper Than Hiring at $15 Per Hour (foxbusiness.com)

An anonymous reader shares an article on Fox Business: As fast-food workers across the country vie for $15 per hour wages, many business owners have already begun to take humans out of the picture. "I was at the National Restaurant Show yesterday and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming into the restaurant industry -- it's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making $15 an hour (warning: autoplaying video) bagging French fries -- it's nonsense and it's very destructive and it's inflationary and it's going to cause a job loss across this country like you're not going to believe," said former McDonald's USA CEO Ed Rensi during an interview on the FOX Business Network's Mornings with Maria. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.3 million people earned the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour with about 1.7 million having wages below the federal minimum in 2014. These three million workers combined made up 3.9 percent of all hourly paid workers.

6 of 1,023 comments (clear)

  1. obvious response by mal808 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new French-fry bagging robot overlords

    1. Re:obvious response by AdamThor · · Score: 4, Funny

      Can these robots also bag hot grits?

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      -- "Oh. This guy again."
  2. Re:McDonalds won't be 1st, but they will be 2nd by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You just need voice recoginition:
    "I would like to order large fries".
    "Do you want fries with that?"
    "No, just large fries"
    "Two orders of large fries. Drive to the window."

  3. Re:McDonalds won't be 1st, but they will be 2nd by blueshift_1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    So a fast food joint that finally understands my true desires?!?

  4. Re:If not now... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Funny

    I suspect this article was posted for political reasons rather than for robot tech reasons.

    In Slashdot way back in the year 1900, they had similar articles like "Does the latest steam tractor throw one 2 cent an hour + food laborer out of work? They were political back then, too, even though it was News for Farmers, Stuff that Manures.

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    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  5. Correction by future+assassin · · Score: 1, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new Freedom-fry bagging robot overlords

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    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*