$15.00 an hour: What a good idea.

[Rams]

Wendy's response to minimum wage hike: Replace staff with machines

http://www.aol.com/article/...ith-machin/21376951/
Wendy's, one of the world's largest fast food chains, says it will replace human employees with automated self-service kiosks in many of its approximately 6,500 restaurants. According to Wendy's CTO Todd Penegor, the sweeping move is an effort to counteract minimum wage hikes.The new technology will be made be available for all locations later this year, but kiosk installation will not be mandatory for franchise restaurants, according to Investor's Business Daily.

See the rest of the story at the provided link
I so want to say, I told you so...............   But, I won't.  Yeah, let's put more under educated folks out of work, play stupid games and win stupid prizes.      IF you didn't expect this, check your ears for sand cause your head has been buried deep.

[cookiedough]

Yep,  technology replacing humans, has been going on for decades, just more mainstream in more recent years.
 
I guess is just a 'tad' better (that is loosing the term loosely) at least where my wife works layoffs of about 20+ employees effective June 1st ONLY keeping 2 of them and shipping most of those jobs to people in India paying them for sure less than U.S. minimum wage.  One lady my wife worked with way back in 1990 and she is now 63 years old doing that same job today some over 25 years ago and her husband needs major healthcare (has a bad heart/lungs, etc.) and she got informed today she did not get 1 of the 2 jobs she re-applied for (basically same job she does now since 1990) to keep her job keeping instead 2 of them UNDER 30 year old females.  Longevity means zippo in today's working culture.  Who the F will hire a 63 year old person in the office over a 22-30 year old?? NO ONE! 

[sandy]

Next they'll bring back Horne & Hardarts. OSS and Gman might remember them in Manhatten.

[old2soon]

Mickey Ds in Seymuor Mo has some as of late last year. Old cantankerous fart that I are I prefer talking to people! Most of the time BUT not always!  Spendy as most of these fast food places are I'd rather go to a sit down resturant  and have a live person ignore me.  RIDE SAFE

[Patrick]

Try and convince some folks that this was going happen, they never believed it.  Well, now they'll be in the unemployment line or welfare office. I guess if they draw welfare they'll make more.

[Simmy74]

Just went to my local bank branch and was introduced to the new indoor super ATM, capable of processing transactions larger than the daily limit, accept credit card applications and payments, etc...  I said "But I want to talk to one of the tellers over there".  I was told they were busy counting their drawers....and how long before the machine does that anyway?

[solo1]

Looking back quite a few, I do remember entry level jobs were in factories making goods.  Many people made it their life's work as they could go up the ladder in the same business

Today, we are  no longer making goods, it's all overseas, mainly in China (a Communists country that killed many Americans, Canadians, and British in the Korean War). We have to put up with inferior goods, poor quality control and help support a country who was our enemy.  Now we are a service country, not manufacturing.  Why?  Is it because our corporate taxes are too high. along with the government making it damn hard for the small businesses.?  Maybe it's because the pols want to get votes so that they can stay in power.

Politicians who demand higher minimum wages know what that does. Reduces the number of already scarce piddling jobs.  However, it makes them look good.

In an ideal world it seems to me that our goverment would encourage manufacturers to keep the work in the US. lowering taxes, eliminating worthless 'green' regulations, etc.  Our government could encourage more proliferation of vocational schools instead of producing over educated idiots with worthless degrees, taught by liberal professors who denigrate our country.

I went to a vocational high school and was taught various skills.  As i worked in the manufacturing field, I knew that to get ahead, I needed additional education. I spent my own money to further my education.  I did well.

Today, what are the opportunities out there for one starting at the bottom?  Not much.  We can rant about people on welfare, and that is true, but, for me, I see that the opportunities that I grew up with are no longer there.  Why?

So much for the blatherings of an old 88 year old dumbarse.,  

[Gavin_Sons]

Looks like more work for me. My company builds and designs automated machines and robots. I do all the electrical controls for them. Maybe we should go after the fast food market and tell them we can make you 100% automated.

[Firefighter]

I think there are still opportunities for graduates, but they have to apply themselves, alot of young people seem to be waiting for someone to put jobs and experience in their hands. Many times to suceed you have to try to be the best at what you do, that can open doors. Times are different in that many young people are not hungry like I was when I was starting out. They have safety nets now, and some are not very motivated. They settle for the easy way, don't try to move up. Their not taught that.

Government is promoting unemployment, the incentives are in place to be poor. Yes, the government knows this, keeps voters dependent on government, lets government grow, be all controlling. History will show the examples and the results.

[Firefighter]

. Maybe we should go after the fast food market and tell them we can make you 100% automated.


I miss the old fashion drug store hamburgers, now I will never find one!

[Stanley Steamer]

As an advanced Whippersnapper, I'd be willing to bet this may lead others like me to support smaller mom and pop burger shops like in the Old Days

[BonS]

I just visiter my local Quilt Trip convenience store with a fully automated food ordering kiosk. Verry slick, fast and ACCURATE!  I suppose we'll be bringing in more H-1B's to do most of the technical work and there's going to be less and less work for the unskilled.

[dinosnake]

Wait: everyone said that they wanted a "free market" economy.  So business pressured governments to sign Free Trade agreements which lowered tax barriers between trading nations.

And business then used the benefits of incredibly low standard of living in emerging countries, which allows commenurately low pay scales, along with desparate labor forces seeking any type of employment, coupled with the now-low import duties, to move as much production overseas as possible.  This was done to maximize profit margins, what business was [also] told was the only important thing to worry about.

But now that's bad, "Bad corporations!  Moving jobs out to cheap locales!  Why aren't we making it great for business to make a profit here, in America, by keeping costs as low as the third-world competition? "

So.  Now Trump is running, very essentially but with his supporters in complete denial, on a protectionist platform:

- remove / restructure free trade borders and agreements
- impose duties on certain goods
- restrict foreign workers
- build a wall around a historic trade partner

Restrict free trade to keep jobs in US
Q: You would end NAFTA, kill the Pacific Trade Agreement, impose tariffs on some products like 35% on Ford cars made in Mexico.

TRUMP: I am all for free trade, but it's got to be fair. When Ford moves their massive plants to Mexico, we get nothing. I want them to stay in Michigan.

Sounds like protectionist, anti-free market to me.  But yet the pro-"free trade" division of our electorate has decided to vote for him, and his beliefs are a popular one.

So tell me: If you want "free market" which means 'government out of business', but then "free market" also includes the ability for business to make their own calls up to and including moving their operations with impunity to locales with lower costs of business by shopping for the cheapest labor as well as property and taxes...

then exactly what incentive does business have to continue to have their operations located in first-world nations, with high standards of living which FORCES higher pay and taxes compared to anything done third-world, due to things like a worldwide first-rate military and infrastructure needed to support the quality of life for the first-world population?

IN OTHER WORDS: Money moves to the point of leasr resistance.  This is what the demogogs never want to discuss.  If there will ALWAYS be someone willing to do something - anything and everything - cheaper the next guy.  So why ate we expecting business to stay and pay when they've been told that only profit matters, and free market allows shopping for the lowest denominator?

Just asking.

[BradValk48237]

There was a recent survey that said Americans would love to buy products made in America...

But only at the same or cheaper prices! Most would prefer to buy Wally World crap from China at cheaper prices...

Our problem is that the majority of people want "Stuff' at the cheapest price...  And the only way to give it to them is for companies to find the cheapest way to produce this items....

So as we raise the cost of production OR cost buy raising the minimun wage OR imposing tariffs/taxes it will only end up passing the cost onto the customer... and then companies will look for even more ways to lower their costs to keep pricing the same or raised as little as possible...

Thats why there manufacturing has been disappearing because there are other countries that ARE doing it cheaper....

We all like to think of the 50's as the golden age for the US for the rise of the middle class, because it was... the reason was that the rest of the world was in economic chaos because 90% of their production had been derailed or destroyed by WWII..... and it wasn't until 20 years later that they had rebuilt their production to the point that they could compete with our solitary dominance.... then in the 80's we had a recession that we started buy "foreign" goods that were at cheaper prices.. think of all the quality US brands that started to disappear then in the 90's.... Curtis Mathis??? Zenith? Pontiac? Olds? Plymouth? AMC? Then the Big Box Stores... ETC ETC....

We did it ourselves.....

B

[..]

Let's say the national minimum wage IS raised to $15.

Now what happens to all the goods that the 15'ers buy?

They ALL go up in price leaving the 15'ers in the same economic state. Dumb masses.

[BonS]

For 21 years I manufactured products that used steel and aluminum tubing. The cost of a finished steel tubing product from China was cheaper that I could buy a raw, straight "stick" of the same steel tubing here in America buying 30,000 feet at a time. The stick of tubing still needed to be cut, bent, punched, painted, vinyl materials applied, protective wrapped, instructions, retail boxed. I stuck it out and made my products in the USA but nobody seemed to care. No problems with my quality but my customers demanded cheaper as they compared my products to imported products. I found it impossible to raise prices to match my increasing costs. Eventually I was just treading water and working my butt off. I got out of the business last Fall. It's not a level playing field.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Let's say the national minimum wage IS raised to $15.

Now what happens to all the goods that the 15'ers buy?

They ALL go up in price leaving the 15'ers in the same economic state. Dumb masses.

And what would you propose?

[Firefighter]

Someone suggested carpet bombing

[..]

Let's say the national minimum wage IS raised to $15.

Now what happens to all the goods that the 15'ers buy?

They ALL go up in price leaving the 15'ers in the same economic state. Dumb masses.

And what would you propose?

Why do I have to propose anything?

Are you assuming there's a problem. What is it?

[The emperor has no clothes]

Let's say the national minimum wage IS raised to $15.

Now what happens to all the goods that the 15'ers buy?

They ALL go up in price leaving the 15'ers in the same economic state. Dumb masses.

And what would you propose?

Why do I have to propose anything?

Are you assuming there's a problem. What is it?

You don't have to do anything man. It was just a question.

[..]

Let's say the national minimum wage IS raised to $15.

Now what happens to all the goods that the 15'ers buy?

They ALL go up in price leaving the 15'ers in the same economic state. Dumb masses.

And what would you propose?

Why do I have to propose anything?

Are you assuming there's a problem. What is it?

You don't have to do anything man. It was just a question.

Are you assuming there's a problem with the current wages being paid?