Bill Gates famously said in an interview that whenever he encounters a problem, his first thought is to apply a technology solution to the problem. In the case of labor shortage, the obvious technological answer to that problem is robots to do the work that a human isn’t available to do so why hasn’t it happened already?
There are some place where robotics has taken a foothold such as auto manufacturing but why not elsewhere where there is persistent shortage of labor such as restuarants?
The CEO for McDonalds recently informed us why he thinks it hasn’t happened in this report.
“The idea of robots and all of those things, while it may be great for garnering headlines, it’s not practical for the vast majority of restaurants,” he said. “You’re not going to see that as a broad-based solution anytime soon.”
RestaurantandDrive.com
We always thought it would be a dangerous thing to have a robot work with high temperatures, grease, and potential for fire so we’re glad Mcdonald’s understands the complexity of the issue.
If robots aren’t the answer then what will be for the current and future labor shortages? We’ve already seen a sneak peak into some possible solutions. The invention of ghost kitchens, delivery services and automation in some industries provides some intriguing insights into what may be possible. We’ll let you know what we discover in a future post. In the meantime, stay tuned and stay solvent…