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Millennials’ hatred of ‘dealing with people’ is a major threat to fast-food workers

fast food self serviice

Hayley Peterson

Many millennials hate interacting with people, according to a new survey.

Nearly a third of people 18 to 24 prefer ordering from the drive-thru at restaurants because “they don’t feel like dealing with people,” according to a study by Ohio-based Frisch’s Restaurants, which owns and franchises 120 Big Boy Restaurants.

That’s bad news for fast-food employees.

It gives restaurant chains an added incentive to invest in automation technology, such as digital tablets that allow customers to buy food without human interaction.

Many restaurant chains, such as McDonald’s and Panera Bread, are already heavily invested in automation. Both have rolled out digital tablets at restaurants nationwide.

The technology has been praised for helping to improve customer-service speed and accuracy.But it also threatens to eventually replace human workers — especially as labor costs rise, according to analysts and labor activists.

https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-hate-interacting-with-people-2016-8