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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWendy’s Serves Up Big Kiosk Expansion As Wage Hikes Hit Fast Food
Wendys (WEN) said that self-service ordering kiosks will be made available across its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year as minimum wage hikes and a tight labor market push up wages.
It will be up to franchisees whether to deploy the labor-saving technology, but Wendys President Todd Penegor did note that some franchise locations have been raising prices to offset wage hikes.
McDonalds (MCD) has been testing self-service kiosks. But Wendys, which has been vocal about embracing labor-saving technology, is launching the biggest potential expansion.
Wendys Penegor said company-operated stores, only about 10% of the total, are seeing wage inflation of 5% to 6%, driven both by the minimum wage and some by the need to offer a competitive wage to access good labor.
Its not surprising that some franchisees might face more of a labor-cost squeeze than company restaurants. All 258 Wendys restaurants in California, where the minimum wage rose to $10 an hour this year and will gradually rise to $15, are franchise-operated. Likewise, about 75% of 200-plus restaurants in New York are run by franchisees. New Yorks fast-food industry wage rose to $10.50 in New York City and $9.75 in the rest of the state at the start of 2016, also on the way to $15.
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http://www.investors.com/politics/policy/wendys-serves-up-kiosks-as-wages-rise-hits-fast-food-group/
Fresh_Start
(11,330 posts)nt
Trust Buster
(7,299 posts)Jeffersons Ghost
(15,235 posts)newthinking
(3,982 posts)The US, with it's very low minimum wage, still has higher burger prices than countries with higher taxes and fast food wages.
The "burger index":
http://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-global-prices-for-a-big-mac/
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Restaurants are a service activity = labor is a greater share of income than in industry, while less than pure service like, say, accounting.
Labor is in the vicinity of 20% of the price of a burger vs about 10% for a can of beer.
Doubling the labor cost at McDonald's would raise prices by about 20%
http://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2013/07/30/doubling-mcdonalds-salaries-a-great-way-to-get-workers-replaced-by-machines/#72d6c02617f4
tenderfoot
(8,437 posts)Response to Purveyor (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Renew Deal
(81,866 posts)I never visited before they had them so I don't know what it was like. Their kiosks are user friendly. I bet they upsell better via kiosks vs humans.
Iggo
(47,558 posts)Now I gotta take my own order, too?
They should pay ME minimum wage!
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)doc03
(35,351 posts)those anyway the minimum wage is just something to blame it on. I look for a computer for orders on all restaurant tables
in a few years, no more waitress.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)This is the kind of stupid business move that will actually harm the economy.
msongs
(67,420 posts)but at least that stuff is cheeeeep
tenderfoot
(8,437 posts)Who could have possibly anticipated this?
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)joshcryer
(62,276 posts)And there's nothing that can stop it.