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Fact is, a bunch of poorer people have to go shoplifting to feed their kids. That's why the baggy pants are in...you can shove a bunch of stuff down those pants at the store. Even at restaurant job, you had to steal to eat or pay for it...At least the kids get to eat twice a day at school, breakfast and lunch. Some kids get backpack full of food around here to keep them fed on weekends...Soup kitchen never moved to poor black areas here, only near the hookers' territory.
No one has to steal. If these same people stopped buying cigarettes, drugs and alcohol and stopped getting tattoos they might have a little more money for food. Same with getting the large flat screens, game boxes and $200 tennis shoes.
I have a small private food market near me that I go to all the time vs. going to the big stores. Is it cheaper?...No....can I do one stop shopping there for everything?... No.....BUT, I choose to go because A. They're a good Mom & Pop operation with good people who know me by name and are always friendly; B. They support the community and local charities/sports teams; C. They care about their customers and the quality of their products.
Oh....and NO long lines, lazy or uncaring employees or self check outs!
Sorry, but I thought the store was going to be completely automated. Are you saying they would have a customer service desk where you could bring returns? Talk to a human so you could show them the receipt?
This is another concern. As it is, people complain (and rightfully
so) about not being able to talk to a live person when dealing
with customer service over the phone. Imagine the angst when
business, apart from the phone, is also automated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luckyram
The prisons are releasing street criminals (non violent) and drug offenders on an ongoing basis due to overcrowding. You think that shoplifters, petty thieves, and those breaking into cars, etc. are going to get any appreciable jail time.....wishful thinking, lol. Even those committing non home invasion type burglaries in urban areas get a slap on the wrist and minimal if any jail time. And...in some cases, those who resort to petty crimes after being jobless for a while may resort to more criminal acts to get lodged in a prison where they have shelter, hot water & 3 square meals a day (and cable tv) courtesy of the taxpayers. In their minds, better than being homeless & starving.
Excellent point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassybluesy
The self-checkers...ai yi yi. LOL I only use the self checkers if I have just a few items. (Well...now I don't use them at all. Most of the time they don't work, and then you have to get a person to clear it, but they're off helping someone else...
That's how the ones where I work are. Seriously, if live cashiers
messed up as often as the self-checkout machines did, they'd
have been let go by now. But because they're machines, they can
get away with it.
At any rate, the poor performance of those contraptions lets me
know that their complete takeover of jobs is still a ways off.
To all of the posters saying NO, it really is not different this time, and different jobs will be created, I truly hope you are right. However, I seriously hope there are some smart people somewhere working on a plan B if you are not. I have seriously thought about this issue....with robots, etc doing most of the work and needing maintenance and programming, but no pay or health insurance, etc. it seems the price of goods will drop dramatically....will still need raw materials though....would the cost of living for humans drop to a level that they would not actually need much in the way of dollars/credits to survive well in such a scenario? Could robots build houses, grow food, transport goods, manufacture goods, etc? Any thoughts on this?
I am a cashier at Walmart. I haven't heard any of this...yet. I HAVE heard about our new pick up program where people can order by text or computer and pick up their order at the store. It will be right in the front and is going in soon. They are looking for a manager for it. If they ever offer home delivery I'll apply for that! IF Walmart does go fully automated it's not going to be very soon and, somehow, I just don't think they can completely go that route. My store would lose a HUGE amount of revenue if it did because, like you, I know our customers would stop coming in. I guess it's a good thing they have to have a prototype first to see how it'll work. Maybe it won't! lol
Walmart is making a LOT of changes these days. We'll just have to wait and see how it shakes out. Some I agree with and some I don't but they don't ask my opinion.
They have that pick up your texted grocerys at the walmart here. Also at the HEB grocery. In addition you get to pay an extra $5 for this service. I don't see their parking spots very full, maybe 1 or 2 cars at the most. When I go shopping, I want to 'forage' like a hunter gatherer woman. I want to look at things, , handle them, read ingredients, decide and evaluate, pick the best tomato, the just right bananas, see how fresh that lettuce is, find new kinds of apples to try. I like discussing the available produce with other foragers. At walmart there is an overwhelming amount of different things to look at, tools and camping gear and things you never thought of. Although almost all of their clothes are Extra Large or XXL or XXXL for some reason. I will NEVER give that up for 'convenience'. What are they thinking?
It is possible that new careers will open up, but not a certainty. I think it is more likely that the entire economic system will need to be revamped, rather than the workers who will have to revamp/retrain. If there are no or few jobs not being done by computer/AI/robots, what alternatives remain?
I fully agree, even if we become a fully "part-time" economy rather than a full time one.
Sadly, every time Walmart runs some positive improvements to their worker's lives, they lay off a bunch of people or hours get cut back to 2 days a week.
Fact is, a bunch of poorer people have to go shoplifting to feed their kids. That's why the baggy pants are in...you can shove a bunch of stuff down those pants at the store. Even at restaurant job, you had to steal to eat or pay for it...At least the kids get to eat twice a day at school, breakfast and lunch. Some kids get backpack full of food around here to keep them fed on weekends...Soup kitchen never moved to poor black areas here, only near the hookers' territory.
WALMART EMPLOYEES - BANK WILL HIRE YOU IF YOU ARE 21, CLEAN CREDIT HISTORY AND NO CRIMINAL RECORD. This is life support job that will support you! Teach yourself 10-key off typing tutor and apply over there with resume. Banks always have tons of over-time...Can also get tuition assistance and go get associate's degree nicely with night school or online.
Banks? I can count the amount of times I've stepped into a physical bank and dealt with a human in the past 10 years on one hand. I wouldn't suggest anyone look at banks for long term jobs. I use Chase and I can do everything other then get or deposit cash from my phone or computer. I can get or deposit cash and do every other banking transaction at the ATM outside my bank.
Stopped at my local Wmart today. They already installed four automated check outs, Scan & Go. According to one employee I talked to they were told two years but Wmart sure isn't wasting any time.
One major problem with many Wmart employees is that many are older folks. The cashier today said to me, "who's going to hire me at 64." If there was one thing good about Wmart was that it did hire older people. Now what do they do?
In the past retailers had a cashier working with a bagger. First went the bagger, now the cashier. How much longer before they want the customer to stock the shelves?
i am one of those who HATES self check out - not because it's complicated, but because i want to give someone a job. the products i buy help pay the salary of the employees. instead of employees standing around waiting for the end of their shift, i give them something to do (earn their paycheck).
more & more the face to face interaction is being removed from our society. all i can see are the fat people in the movie wall*e. eyes glued to a tv screen, don't know how to use your legs, don't know how to carry on a conversation, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth
I agree, some folks dislike/struggle with self-checkout. Most businesses do/will keep a human cashier around as an alternate option. But if a shift goes from 5 cashiers down to 1.. you're talking am 80% reduction in workforce. And this is/will be happening all across unskilled, entry level retail and food service employment. Growing automation's going to be catastrophic for that segment of society. I believe we're facing the prospect of a tidal wave of un/underemployment. It's hard for me to imagine a field of work that can replace so many job openings.. maybe elderly-related health care, as Western population ages, but.. (?)
Umm, do you guys know for sure that going to a cashier will actually help keep their jobs, or is this merely an assumption? If someone's not at checkouts, then they don't just go to some "waiting area" to be reassigned to some other task. There are plenty of other things they can be doing... helping customers, stocking, cleaning, etc. For all we know, WM needs to reassign those 4 other cashiers to cover other tasks that would otherwise go unfulfilled.
.
Akin to FF... one person stated automation will be the end of the cashier or the cook... well, they'll just get reassigned to cleaning and other duties.
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