Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Restaurant Slammed For Using Robot Waiter Due To Worker Shortage Rather Than Increasing Wages

Restaurant Slammed For Using Robot Waiter Due To Worker Shortage Rather Than Increasing Wages
NJ.com/YouTube

As a nationwide labor shortage slows and even stops many businesses, especially in foodservice, one New Jersey restaurant has resorted to an unlikely solution: robot waiters.

It may seem like a fascinating technological breakthrough, but to many the restaurant's move speaks to the dark underbelly of the labor shortage. Many business owners are simply refusing to raise wages sufficiently to attract workers.


And after a year of upheaval, many workers are unwilling to work 40+ hours but still be unable to afford rent, food, utilities, healthcare or childcare.

The New Jersey restaurant is drawing outrage for being willing to pay for a robot, but not increase salaries for actual workers.

The robot, called "Peanut" by its manufacturer, Richland Laboratories, has been waiting tables at the Island Grill in Ocean City, New Jersey because owner Andrew Yoa has been unable to staff 60 open positions.

As he told NJ.com:

"Right before we we were ready to open this season, my wife was like, 'We have no servers.' I said, 'What are you talking about?' We have like, three applications. And we usually have 100 or 200, or 300."

So Yoa leased Peanut from Richland Laboratories. Peanut isn't the only server in the restaurant—it works alongside Yoa's skeleton crew in order to pick up some of the slack left by so many open positions.

Yoa says most of his diners think Peanut is so cool they get disappointed when they have a human server. But many on the internet were outraged by Yoa's story.

The nationwide labor shortage has become a hot-button issue of late, as conservatives and many business owners try to pin the blame on extended unemployment benefits due to the pandemic, saying workers would rather collect benefits than return to work.

But economists say that explanation doesn't bear out.

Labor shortages nearly always result in wage increases as business owners try to attract workers. Overall, wages are not rising during this labor shortage, leaving many to conclude low wages, along with other concerns like lack of childcare due to closed schools and continued fears about the virus, are to blame.

Recent stories, like that of a Pittsburgh ice cream parlor suddenly inundated with job applications after raising its pay rate to $15 per hour, bear this theory out. Small workers' strikes that hit foodservice establishments in recent weeks seem to indicate as well many people simply are no longer willing to work for the bargain-basement pay rates most foodservice jobs provide.

And it was that dynamic that had many people online infuriated by the story of Peanut the robot waiter.










For his part, Yoa defended his lease of Peanut as a temporary solution to a hopefully temporary problem. He stressed Peanut would never be able to keep up with the pace of his restaurant under normal circumstances.

Time will tell whether robots like Peanut become a permanent fixture in restaurants.

More from Trending

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less