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General discussion

Work where?

Feb 26, 2006 2:49AM PST

In reference to the Taco Bell touch screen:

First we lose "Is it plugged in?" now "do you want fries with that?" is on the brink? I am all for technology enriching our lives, but where are we all going to work if we outsource all our jobs to foreign countries AND have technology replace all the food service jobs? Happy

This might be funny at first, but really, isn?t it about time to stop the madness and start creating jobs here in the states and at least level the playing field by implementing technology that creates jobs here and lets other countries outsource to us? What a concept!


-Joe from Westside

Discussion is locked

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I'm pretty sure it's been said before
Feb 26, 2006 3:39AM PST

If you take people away from the registers, you can place them in the food preparation area, and help make sure that the food is coming to the customer fast. Personally, I've had bad experiences in an understaffed McDonald's where the cashiers have had to run around the whole building, just because there aren't enough hands where they need to be.

-Ryan

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I'm no Howard Hughes but...
Feb 26, 2006 7:42AM PST

I don't like the idea that the person handling the money is also touching my food. Money is filthy dirty.

Granted, mostly what the guys up front are touching is paper-wrapped at that point, but I still want a disconnect from the money handling to the food handling.

-Kevin S.

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Okay, but...
Feb 26, 2006 7:53AM PST

Wouldn't the machines be handling all the money?
If so, there's your disconnect. Besides, usually they don't let anybody touch food without gloves on.

-Ryan

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They're everywhere!! Get em off o' me!!
Feb 26, 2006 1:55PM PST

Yes but say some sick dude with the flu just finishes wiping his nose, hands his money to miss ''hi, may I take your order?'' she takes the money, you're next, you order a drink, she hands you the cup - sometimes finger in the top. You either drink the germs or get them on your hand and accidentally touch your eyes or wipe your nose and suddenly you're out sick for 5 days. Happy

Ok, maybe I'm a distant relative of Howard Hughes... where's my inheritance??!!

-Kevin S.

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Howard? He created jobs... till the end
Mar 5, 2006 3:37AM PST

Cleanliness is not my point. Yes, we are becoming a sterile society, but that is another topic. This post was about Jobs - Something that we are losing a lot of in this country. All I am saying is that we should be looking for a way to apply technology so that it CREATES jobs here in the states, not eliminates them.

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Not a solution but a thought...
Mar 5, 2006 7:32AM PST

I work in an industry that is all about outsourcing - electronic contract manufacturing. We are faced with the VERY real possibility of having our jobs moved to a low-cost centre virtually over-night (3-6 moths).

So why is there still a Canadian (or substitute higher-cost country name) plant?

Opinions vary, but the realities of travel, language, and service play a big role.

Basically, we offer our local (within 200 miles) customers a common language, easy access for face-to-face meetings, and ease of technical visits (engineering) for development. We also offer a single-voice solution: our Programs team acts as the face to the customer for our company, even if parts of the manufacturing are done several different locations.

All of this is predicated on being the gateway for new product introduction - NPI...

Anyway, to your point, I think with the low-end service jobs disappearing as a result of automation - and I only expect this to continue - we need to look seriously at the old apprenticeship model and see how it might be modernized so kids can get easy access to work-experience. It serves us all to have more experienced, better trained workers.

Thoughts?

- Micah

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education
Mar 5, 2006 10:27PM PST

Education never hurts. Yes we need to educate our kids to be ready for technically superior jobs, but if we continue to pass legislation (funded by special interest groups) that makes it easy (*gasp* more desirable and cost effective) to outsource jobs to foreign countries, all the education in the world wont matter. All we will have to study is how these jobs are creating a better life for foreigners. Am I the only one that has noticed that other contries language barriers are dropping? They are getting better at it and we are fueling the fire. ok. I'm done. Diddnt meant to be so dark...... Speaking of dark, How bout a topic on BSG? Happy

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Why There?
Mar 6, 2006 2:06AM PST

It's all about Value Chain Disaggregation. Thomas Friedman talks about it in THE WORLD IS FLAT. If your value to the food chain is doing basic order entry, that's not a lot of value.

If not the Taco Bell solution, there's a McDonalds who turned their drive-thru over to a call center, where a single, ninja-trained order taker could manage up to 8 McD's drive-thrus at the same time.

Folks who are hoping for a job at Taco Bell's front counter should reconsider their goals in life. There are other entry-level gigs that will provide a wage.

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self serve checkout
Mar 6, 2006 11:34PM PST

I refuse to use the self-serve checkout at HomeDepot, and my local grocery store (Shoprite or Pathmark). First I don't like that they put people out of a job and secondly they're not faster. It always seems that the... ehem "technically challenged" people like to use that line and it takes forever.

People always make the arguement that self serve checkout saves the business money and they pass that savings onto the consumer. That's a lame arguement, any savings goes straight into the profit margin of the business. Let's be realistic, say that cashier makes $10 hourly and works full-time (which is doubtful) so their annual salary is $20,800. Divide that out among all the items that a person buys in a year and what do you save, a hundredth of a penny per item? Any savings is so miniscule that it's not worth saving it. It's one more job available and one less person on public assistance.

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YES!!!
Mar 9, 2006 12:33AM PST

Exactly! Everyone wants to maximize profits, but how much is too much and at what cost? You know we are not going to see lower prices because they dont have a cashier! I hate those lines too. I feel like: i came in for the part AND the service. Now you want me to be a bag boy too?! I know we are capitalists, but really, how much is too much? Im glad I'm not alone out there!