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All the comments so far seem to be just re-hashing personal anecdotes about using the kiosks, and not the key message that's in the article. Replacing cashiers
by Jaruzel 8y ago
All the comments so far seem to be just re-hashing personal anecdotes about using the kiosks, and not the key message that's in the article.
Replacing cashiers in stores with kiosks, and ultimately replacing the fries-making and burger-flipping jobs with automation, removes a massive slice[1] of job roles for young teens from the market. As the article writer asserts, this will prevent lots of first time workers from learning the basic work-skills that are needed as they progress to more senior roles elsewhere. Things like time-keeping, quality-control, ability to focus, and social skills... the list goes on.
With young people the world over now only able to interact with society via the medium of toxic social media, resulting in poor face-to-face social skills, the next time you bump into an intolerant sulky mono-syllabic belligerent teen, remember that it was these sort of technical 'innovations' that resulted in their abandonment, and directly contributed to them becoming the anti-social outcasts that mainstream media has always painted them as.
As elders, we need to support the up-coming generation, not cast them aside in pursuit of our own greatness.
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[1] pun totally intended.
- imgabe 8y agoAnd yet, 5 days ago we were lamenting that teenagers no longer want these jobs and they are going unfilled: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17557298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17557298 Sounds like the market is coming up with a solution. There are many ways for teens to learn the lessons you mentioned besides working in fast food.
- krapp 8y agoMcDonald's would have automated those jobs away regardless of labor supply, and whatever alternatives there might be are going to be automated as well. Entry-level work is categorically being done away with, and yet the expectation of social and business skills being provided by entry-level work is not.
- dnadler 8y agoI suppose that this is correct, but mostly because of the cost-benefit analysis. If labor is more expensive than automation, then the company will turn to automation. Automation is getting less expensive and labor is getting more expensive, so here we are.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- melling 8y agoHow did kids learn before McDonalds?
- falcolas 8y agoAs children on farms and ranches, or in the mail rooms of large companies, or as journeymen for physical trades, or a thousand other low level opportunities that no longer exist, require degrees, or that they're now having to compete against aging baby boomers for.
- CodeTheInternet 8y agoI never worked in food service. I worked in retail (sales and stocking), delivery services, freight (un)load, construction trades and the military. Every one of those still exists, is not going away any time soon and qualifies as entry-level.