A study by London Business School management professor Lynda Gratton and futurologist David A. Smith predicts that such a massive shift could occur within the next 20 years, and its effects would be much further reaching than unskilled labor like fast food jobs.
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“It’s nonsense and it’s very destructive and it’s inflationary and it’s going to cause a job loss across this country like you’re not going to believe”, he said. According to Rensi, even the actual burger-making process could be automated in a similar way.
But for Rensi, a flourishing economy demands “common sense” solutions from all industries.
Rensi claims he saw some robotic arms at a National Restaurant Show on Monday and said if low skilled employees insist on having increased income, employers will be left with no option but to replace them with more efficient, cost-effective robotic innovations.
In his interview with Fox Business, Rensi said low-wage workers “have to grow” and learn additional skills, because the push for higher minimum wages will eliminate their jobs. It’s going to happen whether you like it or not. “The states ought to manage this because they know more [about] what’s going on the ground than anybody in Washington D.C.”, he added. Citing the rising cost of labor leading from the decision of California and NY to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, the company could go ahead in the next several years. Franchising is the best business model in the United States. Yet Jake Sullivan, the top advisor for Hillary Clinton refutes his statement saying it would unleash “a race to the bottom”.
Rensi went on to say that we should get rid of the minimum wage all together and replace it with a tiered system based on experience.
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It makes sense, especially when we look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, with 1.3 million people earning the current minimum wage of just $7.25 per hour, and 1.7 million with wages below the federal minimum back in 2014. California and NY became the first states to raise their minimum age to $15 on April 4. Most McDonald’s workers, however, are employed by franchisees.
