Having customers place their own order has been in trials – or already implemented – at many restaurant chains as a way to reduce labor costs.
“We need to answer how we take care of our team with that federally mandated wage,” said Chief Executive Officer Randy Garutti during a phone interview. “Our labor costs are skyrocketing.” The new location is “our way of seeing how we are going to do that.”
Source: Shake Shack Claims Automation Won’t Hurt Its Famed Hospitality – Bloomberg
Automation was going to reduce the need for labor regardless of wage laws; however, sharp increases in minimum wage laws are accelerating the trend to reduce the number of workers, where possible.
