
Panera is losing nearly 100% of workers yearly amidst fast-food turnover crisis - benryon
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/fast-food-restaurants-in-america-are-losing-100percent-of-workers-every-year.html
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kop316
I'm reminded of something in academia. When one or two people fail a test,
they probably messed up. When 50% or more fail a test, the teacher messed up.

I say to to say I hate when it is phrased as a "turnover crisis". No, working
there is so bad that people either quit or find something better!

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tracer4201
Ha! We went into a Panera Bread last week. There were two counters but no
service. We stood there for several minutes expecting someone to take our
order at the counter and then realized there were iPads to place your order.

We ordered soup and bread and a couple drinks. For $20 you obviously get what
you pay for, but is it a place I would really ever go out of my way to eat at?
No.

It was clearly microwaved soup with way too much salt. The place was rather
filthy inside. The people working there didn’t want to be there and neither
did we.

Maybe it’s nostalgia but years and years ago I recall Panera having better
service and food. I didn’t really change my standard that much (we eat out a
few times a year and not at upscale places).

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PhantomGremlin
_years and years ago I recall Panera having better service and food_

Panera used to be a public company. They got bought out by a giant
conglomerate.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company)

My recent experience mirrors yours. Much worse than in previous years. I don't
have any urgency to ever go there again. But ... on the day I was there the
place was pretty busy, so quite a few people still like it.

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WheelsAtLarge
>>Some experts believe it is inevitable that fast food will be the first job
sector ruled by robots.

Does anyone know of any companies that have mostly automated?

My local supermarket has doubled the number of self serve cashiers and reduced
the regular cash registers by the same number. I hate using them but sometimes
it's just so crowded that I feel I have to unless I want to spend a big chunk
of my day there. If it's anything like that then it seems to me that the
future kind of sucks.

~~~
pravda
I love the self-serve checkout!

Also the electronic ordering screen at the local Wendys. Less chance of
screwing-up the order.

I think fast food should be more automated -- do you really need an actual
human to lower french fries into oil and wait for the beep?

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kbos87
Of course you (and I!) do - we are HN readers. While I think there’s a change
afoot in the direction of not minding ordering or receiving goods without the
help of a human, there’s still a large swath of the population who wants a
consultation and help when they are shelling out money. I also don’t think
it’s entirely generational.

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l_t
Self-checkout is significantly slower and more error-prone than using a
cashier. It would be one thing if you could just walk your cart under a
scanner and get a bill. But self-checkout is _exactly the same as regular
checkout, but with nobody there to help you_. It's hideous for any orders with
10+ items.

~~~
theluketaylor
The self checkouts I have used are explicitly worse than if they let you
operate the regular checkout. I'd happily use the cashier's workspace and
check myself out. Self checkout kiosks are a nightmare of user unfriendly
design that assumes you are going to steal every chance you get. The workflow
of cart --> scanner --> bag is hideous, the weight sensors to prevent theft
fail to detect items all the time, entering produce codes takes forever since
unlike the cashier you don't get dedicated controls, the bagging area is too
small even if you have minimal items and since 6 other people are getting the
exact same voice feedback nearby you can't distinguish which instructions are
for you.

~~~
Gibbon1
> the weight sensors to prevent theft fail to detect items all the time

I've noted the local stores I go to with self checkout have disabled the
weight sensors. I think they've decided the slowdown and annoyance isn't worth
the reduction in shrinkage. Also possible the reduction is nil.

~~~
c22
I try to go through a line with a cashier if I can just to get my support for
a human workforce into their metrics, but sometimes I have to use the self-
checkout (often because it is the only option after certain hours.) I've
noticed that when there is a problem with the anti-theft scale (usually
because something has failed to scan because I am moving faster than the
weight-check) the sole attendant will just cancel the "bagging alert" from
their command station.

I imagine it's impossible to investigate every time the machine stops when one
person is "monitoring" a dozen or more of these things.

I've stopped trying to rectify these errors and now just consider it as a
discount for me having to take on the work they used to pay someone for.
Perhaps the stores see it the same way and the loss is still way less than the
cost of employees?

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fallingfrog
I’m fairly certain this is intentional. Workers can’t unionize or agitate for
better pay if they just leave after 6 months. The real question to ask the
execs at these companies is: what did you do to _achieve_ such high turnover
rates?

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nefitty
Turnover is expensive. There may be failures at different levels of
management. I doubt there is conscious intent to oppress. More to the fact,
how many fast food places are unionized these days and is that really even a
major risk at this point in American history?

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imtringued
The article describes how the companies have made the jobs turnover proof.
Turnover isn't expensive at these companies. Otherwise they would have stepped
in and attempted to reduce the turnover rate. In reality they think they can
make more money with high turnover.

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imtringued
Those companies have optimized for turnover. There is no "crisis" because the
high turnover rate exists by design.

