What’s Happening with the McDonald’s Digital Revolution?
In what will be a surprise to absolutely no one, McDonald’s Corporation’s (NYSE:MCD) lower-wage jobs are being eliminated by computers, robots, and other digital solutions while others battle to try to raise the pay for positions that won’t exist in a few years time.
While McDonald’s digital plan goes along with self-order kiosks and mobile pay options (to name a few), there’s a chance that the fast food chain could be looking to totally outsource the use of human labor to robots. Or at least, that’s the direction things are pointing in right now. (Source: “McDonald’s: More touch screens and table service just the beginning of change,” CNN Money, November 17, 2016.)
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Florida, New York, and Southern California are the three main laboratories testing these innovations, where 500 restaurants have received a variety of updates. More are to follow in 2017, again, showing that the McDonald’s digital revolution has just begun.
Touch screens are making an appearance in McDonald’s restaurants and, soon enough, hungry visitors hankering for a “Big Mac” can order the meal online or by mobile.
Credits: Flickr.com/GasFan_Canada
“Customers have access to information that gives them much more control over their lives,” said McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook in an interview with CNN Money’s Cristina Alesci. (Source: Ibid.)
These, of course, are not the only innovations that McDonald’s has rolled out. Beyond the McDonald’s digital revolution, who could forget the great awakening that was the introduction of all-day breakfast, when birds sang fuller tunes and the sun shone a little brighter? After all, what great miracles have we—modern humanity—experienced that measures up to the “McMuffin” in the afternoon?
Jokes aside, the move was a coup for McDonald’s sales, helping the flagging giant regain some of its market share, and pushed the company in bolder directions. For instance, the possible introduction of a healthier menu, kale and all.
Back to the original question; will the McDonald’s digital revolution help update the fast food chain for the 21st century? And more importantly what will happen to the minimum-wage workers whose livelihoods are threatened by machines?
