[2000cs]

I recommend “The Man in the White Suit”, an old Alec Guinness movie, for one view on the trends. In the movie, the suit is no wash, never clean, won’t tear.

[Tyga11]

I just went to Starbucks because of this thread and waited in the drive thru for 15 minutes...this was at 6:30am.

[x3sm]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

I am going to attempt to make an observation and nothing more.

Not everyone will have 'real skills' and not everyone deserves to be paid a lot of money.

Not everyone wants or honestly needs to be super successful in life.

So if we eliminate these jobs and others - what do the majority of people actually do for a living?

Most likely will go two ways, these folks will be forced to actually study and get a real career or they will be collecting gov checks. I think gov wants the latter, by charging SBUX and the like corps some new tax and will finance the monthly installments somehow. SBUX kind of jobs were never meant to pay mortgage or even rent. US is moving hard towards "renters nation" and not just housing, but subscription mentality. I think we will see a split in these people, some will pick up their asses and start on something real and also a lot more people will just sit on gov checks. The voucher system is there, food, housing..

[Chick Webb]

Originally Posted by unluky

This 100%. He DID learn something that made him WORTH more - he didn't just demand it. He learned there are a lot of jobs out there that people don't want to do and they pay more because of it. That IS a skill.

In answer to your question, Tyga11, THIS.

[Chick Webb]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

I just went to Starbucks because of this thread and waited in the drive thru for 15 minutes...this was at 6:30am.

If that's a complaint, then try pre-ordering with the App. Then you just park, swoop in, pick up your already completed order, and you're gone in 30 seconds. Works a treat.

[Darth One]

What i want to know is, if Starbucks has a machine that can make a decent cup of specialty coffee/coffee-based drink, when is that tech going to trickle down to household machines??

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by Chick Webb

If that's a complaint, then try pre-ordering with the App. Then you just park, swoop in, pick up your already completed order, and you're gone in 30 seconds. Works a treat.

Yes, complaint. I've used the app before. There's a local spot I prefer that also has a drive thru because I'm lazy in the morning that's 100x faster.

Nice movement in the stock today!

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

I am going to attempt to make an observation and nothing more.

Not everyone will have 'real skills' and not everyone deserves to be paid a lot of money.

Not everyone wants or honestly needs to be super successful in life.

So if we eliminate these jobs and others - what do the majority of people actually do for a living?

There are still many low skill jobs. Amazon and Walmart come to mind. Right now, there is a significant shortage of these workers so there are plenty of jobs at other restaurants and elsewhere for now. But when pay and benefits for low skill workers escalate rapidly, there is a stronger financial incentive to shed them. As technology replaces labor, people need to shift their views and priorities to be suitable for other occupations.

Edit: Also, Starbucks coffee and service is the worst of the worst to me. I just drink regular coffee, not fancy shit. On the rare occasion I go to Starbucks, the counter help hands me a cup filled to the brim with piping hot coffee and I have to dump some in the trash before adding cream and sugar myself. Pay a ridiculous price and can't even get a good tasting final product.

[G MONEY]

Originally Posted by Chick Webb

If that's a complaint, then try pre-ordering with the App. Then you just park, swoop in, pick up your already completed order, and you're gone in 30 seconds. Works a treat.

That's my way. Easy peasy!!!

[G MONEY]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Yes, complaint. I've used the app before. There's a local spot I prefer that also has a drive thru because I'm lazy in the morning that's 100x faster.

Nice movement in the stock today!

Stock has done very well for me. Bought in at 67 and change during covid and had it set to sell at 115. Paid for my next 5 lifetimes of coffees. Lol

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by shiftdnb

Cheering on the job losses of others while a company is growing substantially and making enough profit to buy back shares is rather a dick head thing to do. You could have just marveled over the advancement in automation. This would have happened regardless of unions or higher wages for employees.

I can see how you could take the OP's message that way. This is an off topic forum and good for you for sharing your point of view.

I didn't take the OP's message that way at all. Certainly, the OP embedded the employee into the story because you can't tell the story with out it. I found the post relevant, funny, clever, and ironic, and at the same time, calling out a well-known brand corporation for a well-written marketing piece for what it really is.

The employees are pawns in this game, but they are part of the game. When they vote union, that has an impact on the game. When they get injured on the job, that has an impact too. The moves Starbucks is making is what I would expect any corporation to do. If a corporation sits still it is dead. Ask Sears. Ask K-mart.

Innovation is crucial and investing in automation to improve quality, reduce cost, and reduce employee injury is crucial to survival in the long term. While Starbucks' announcement may not be a palatable from the layman's viewpoint, anyone who runs a big business or owns their own company gets it. Innovate or die.

I live in California. Our state minimum wage (already the highest in the nation) is currently $15/hour. The newly constituted Council has authority to raise the minimum wage of fast food workers by 47% next year to $22/hour. What in the heck do you think the fast food companies are doing as we type on off topic forums? Of course, they are looking at every conceivable way to cut labor and maintain acceptable quality and service. No company can stand a 47% increase in labor cost unless they become more labor efficient and/or increase prices. That's just the way it is. Taco Bell employees and other fast food employees may be cheering this recent wage increase and well they should. More money in the check for them and their families. What happens next is the the downside. Robotics will increase and the need for labor will diminish. If a fast food company chooses to keep status quo and not innovate in the face of this large increase in labor expense that is forecasted, they will close down and all the employees will be looking for jobs, not just some of them.

We also need to keep in mind that unemployment is at a very low level now. Just like companies, employees must stay marketable and innovate to the extent that they are able to get ahead in their own lives. Maybe the barista who got laid off gets some technical training and goes to work for a robotics automation company, for example. These workers get the opportunity to look to the future. What they have now is not certain and never has been.

I have to go now. I need to research some robotics and automation companies and look for an investment opportunity.

[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by G MONEY

Whoa. Bite your tongue. I don't drink hot coffee. But I will get a Vente iced carmel macchiato with Extra vanilla. Try it before you hate it. Lol. Sugar bomb

I have it on the road when I'm stuck and I can't find a better place, it's still crap. It's the McDonald's of coffee and it sounds like if they're going to try and automate it it's going to get even worse with pre-cooked food that just gets nuked.

I also love the celebration of elimination of jobs and the idea they should "get a real job" as if the service industry was just made up out of nowhere and there is an unlimited supply of awesome white collar jobs every can have access to if they just dug out their bootstraps.

All to Stan for a company pleading poverty that had record revenue and profits last year and committed 30 BILLION to stock buybacks...

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Over Priced and Over Rated. I'll continue to make my own.

^^ This ^^

Haven't been to a Starbucks in forever. I will keep it that way.

[TTM0TION]

If you don't have boutique coffee shops starbucks makes something more akin to good coffee than the brown water of DD or Tim Hortons. Or maybe I'm just a crackhead and need something strong. Otherwise there's no other appeal other than being everywhere, at least where I live.

[KenB925]

Originally Posted by Darth One

What i want to know is, if Starbucks has a machine that can make a decent cup of specialty coffee/coffee-based drink, when is that tech going to trickle down to household machines??

People (my wife, sister, and brother) seem to like the Jura machines, they can 'one touch' a fairly complex drink.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by Chick Webb

Man, if you ever need to see stark proof of what rising labor costs will cause a well-run organization to do, there it is. $450 million in capital expense in one year. It'll probably save them $2 billion in two. Right on, Howie! I dumped my SBUX earlier this year when the whole union thing started, but I may have to pick some back up.

You can blame this on workers not wanting to be exploited, but it was coming anyway as soon as the technology is feasible. Projects like this started 10+ years ago, it has nothing to do with unionization. Most Starbucks are already understaffed and can't find employees right now anyway.

[KenB925]

I think anyone with a couple of braincells saw this coming when the unionizing talk started.

It will be interesting to see how this goes, if they keep a couple of skilled people and have the machines to 'play the hits' it may work, but I don't see a bright future for this.

The quality is just barely good enough as it is, this will knock it down a peg. Starbucks will be the McDonalds/Budweiser/Subwayl of coffee/breakfast bites/bad sandwiches.

The good news is that eventually this will make room for good coffee places, bakeries, and sandwich shops to come back.

[Darth One]

Originally Posted by KenB925

People (my wife, sister, and brother) seem to like the Jura machines, they can 'one touch' a fairly complex drink.

Pricey but interesting !

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by chris719

You can blame this on workers not wanting to be exploited, but it was coming anyway as soon as the technology is feasible. Projects like this started 10+ years ago, it has nothing to do with unionization. Most Starbucks are already understaffed and can't find employees right now anyway.

Unionization efforts, minimum wage battles and mandated benefits have been around for a while too, thus the interest in such projects. Recent unionization efforts, the events leading up to them and the outlook for further such efforts served to accelerate the need for such projects to move forward.

I agree there is no single trigger, but legislative, economic and other trends that make labor more expensive and volatile require businesses that rely on low-skill / low-wage staff to invest in technologies that reduce dependence on labor. So disagree unionization had nothing to do with it.

[KenB925]

Originally Posted by Darth One

Pricey but interesting !

Yeah, they are spendy, but my wife uses it so much I think it was a good investment compared to the same coffee at Starbucks.

[Torgus]

This is the goal for all 'fast food' One "manager' who goes around and fills up hoppers. Some jobs you still need a person for. Like at McDonalds to load the next 100 burgers into the burger hopper. Or to load more coffee beans or milk jugs into the machine. The job will still pay shit. But you pay 1 person shit instead of 5 and have to deal with everything else you are required to 'give' employees. People wanting time off, dealing with shifts etc. Now you run 24/7 with a VERY small crew. 1 person per shift. 3-4 people for the entire fast food 'restaurant'

[chris719]

Originally Posted by KenB925

I think anyone with a couple of braincells saw this coming when the unionizing talk started.

I work on a team designing robotics among other things. These projects didn't just start because of unionization. Fast food corps have been looking to replace humans for decades. This was going to happen when the devices were reliable enough and capable of performing enough tasks. Blaming unionization for this is short sighted. Corporations like SBUX will shave a penny at any opportunity. The difference in comp between union and non-union "baristas" will pale in comparison to a barista and no barista.