Minimum Wage Hike Backfiring? Wendy's Increases Self-Service Kiosks

It's really a simple concept: If the cost of automation is greater than the cost of hiring, then businesses will hire. If the cost of hiring is greater than the cost of automation, then businesses will automate.

If you increase the cost of hiring, more businesses will switch to automation-- since it is now their best option.

These stories - and there have been many in the last year or so - never bring up the automat. There's a century long history of self-service restaurants, which were nearly all replaced by fast food restaurants. FEBO stores in The Netherlands has an automat component.

If minimum wage were so critical, why haven't more fast food restaurants in The Netherlands, where (Wikipedia tells me) the minimum wage is $10/hour for those 23 and older?

Having worked both retail and food service jobs, this sucks. A store manager may hope (and communicate to their teams) that their weekly payroll hours won't be cut, but the powers that be will make that cut whether or not it's needed. I've been on the receiving end, watching every part-timer moved to 12 hours a week and the remaining staff stretched thin for months. The GM got a new Camaro with their bonus. I ate frozen corn dogs in bulk.

I've also worked at a company making those same self service retail widgets and have stepped into customer stores and noticed less cashiers on deck after that-thing-I helped-code is installed. That altruistic guilt helped me leave that industry for greener pastures.

But, I have serious anxiety and love fast food. I can't count how many times I've wished for a touchscreen kiosk to place my order. Even "no sorry, that #1 should be large size" is hard for me to say and I get what feels like an inordinate amount of incorrect orders which adds to a guilt cycle where I beat myself up for not speaking up. From an accessibility standpoint, this will make things easier for me and countless other people.

Even if minimum wage was 1$ a day, companies would try to make as much as possible.

Its the same as outsourcing the drive through to a remote call center (already happening).

The difference, machines aren't subsidized by taxpayers.