The fight for fifteen is, of course, the ongoing campaign supporting a $15 minimum wage. I’ve written about the various empirical studies of this issue (click here, click here, click here, click here) as well as a few case studies (click here, click here). Marriott joins the fight for fifteen today. But, in this case, “joins” has a less commonly used meaning: join battle.
A Grag and Go Kiosk (source: Marriott.com)
Today’s New York Post includes this piece: “A Marriott hotels pilot is replacing desk clerks with automated kiosks.” I suspect you can guess the reason for this experiment. But Marriott has a cover story:
Marriott said the so-called “contactless arrival kiosks” are meant to ease customers’ fears about getting COVID-19 by interacting with hotel staff. As such, they are equipped with “antimicrobial technology baked into the touchscreen glass, powered by UV light to kill bacteria and viruses,” Marriott said in a Monday press release.
Yeah. Sure. COVID-19 has been the cover story for more business and government activities than I want to count. Here’s what an industry expert says:
But industry experts see the kiosks as a cost-cutting move — and a step towards self-checkout automation that has been pioneered in recent years by grocery stores, big-box retailers and fast-food restaurants including McDonald’s, which has installed kiosks at some locations to take customers’ orders.
The article closes by noting that high-end hotels like Ritz-Carlton and Regis are likely to keep the personal touch. Ironically, both those chains are owned by Marriott.
Kiosk Check-in at Marriott’s Moxy Hotel on Times Square (source: Marriott.com)
Years ago, it became apparent that U.S. education was going to be divided into two categories. High-reputation universities would continue using their high-touch, in-classroom education model. Down at the state university and community college level, classes would be very large sections (minimum 150 students). We called this the no-touch model. Technology appears to have extended this division to restaurants and hotels. The question is which industry will be next? My guess: airlines will use robots to distribute snacks and check seating assignments.
