Will robots replace fast food workers?

Robot works with cloud computer. Technology concept. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

I was recently asked by a journalist whether robots are likely to replace the cashiers, cooks, and others who are employed fast food restaurants. As with most things in life, the answer isn’t so black-and-white.

Many of the students and some of the recent grads who use College Recruiter are employed by fast food restaurants. In fact, one of our employees was a “sandwich artist” at Subway prior to joining us.

There’s no doubt that automation will continue to impact the number and types of jobs in fast food restaurants but I don’t buy the argument that digital ordering, kiosks, tablets, and other methods will replace human workers in fast food restaurants. Just look at banks. Have ATM’s reduced the need for human tellers? Absolutely. But have ATM’s come close to eliminating the need for human tellers? Absolutely not.