Now that Joe Biden is making a lot of noise about wanting a Federal national $15 minimum wage, you are probably going to start seeing a lot more news about robots, and automated tech in restuarants--especially fast food.

It's no secret that automation has influenced everything from the auto industry to computer tech; but economic factors are quietly pushing it into food service.

The last time there was a major push for such a wage, right around the end of the Obama Administration, we saw a lot of reports about restaurant robot tech. It went by the wayside mostly due to President Trump's economic policies and a lot of growth and jobs. But now...it's coming back.

Two years ago, we told you about the push for automated tech in the fast food world. Some of these have already been put into place in some CA restaurants. Burger cooking and flipping machines. Others who take the cooked food, add condiments and bag it.

 Or how about this robot barista? It's being used in a few shops in San Francisco. This story also from 2 years ago.

And now, the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is reporting this week that Chipotle', Texas Roadhouse and others are already "doing the math" to figure out what a higher Federal minimum wage could mean for their operation and costs.

According to the Wall Street Journal this week, by way of the FEE:

“Some executives fear that increases to the federal pay floor would drive up wages across income classes, hurting profits and forcing businesses to find savings to offset higher spending on labor..."

The Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan agency, projects that a Federal minimum wage of $15 would eventually destroy or eliminiate anywhere from 1.3 to 3.7 million jobs over a few years.

And finally, the online blog webstrauntstore.com says Zume Pizza out of CA has already implemented some robots into it's pizza building; and in 2018 Little Caesar's quietly was issued a patent for building a pizza making robot. They continue to refine the tech, and plan to begin implmenting it in stores.

So the next time you're in a restaurant, especially fast food, and you use the automated ordering kiosk, know that this is the tip of the iceberg...if a $15 minimum wage is obtained by Biden, the robots will be coming...and coming fast and humans will be home on the couch--without a job.

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