Robot-phobia could exasperate hotel, restaurant labor shortage
Using more robots to close labor gaps in the hospitality industry may backfire and cause more human workers to quit, according to a new study. The study, involving more than 620 lodging and food service employees, found that ‘robot-phobia’ — specifically the fear that robots and technology will take human jobs — increased workers’ job insecurity and stress, leading to greater intentions to leave their jobs. The impact was more pronounced with employees who had real experience working with robotic technology. It also affected managers in addition to frontline workers.
There's no need to panic about a pending robot takeover just yet. Only 14% of workers say they've seen their job replaced by a robot. But those who have experienced job displacement due to a robot overstate the effect of robots taking jobs from humans by about three times.
Reshoring manufacturing to the US has been a significant trend in recent years, driven by geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, proximity to customers and markets, eco-system synergies and the need for positive impact on the domestic economy. However, reshoring presents several challenges—mainly workforce, technical and economic issues. AI, automation and…
Robotics systems have already been introduced in numerous real-world settings, including some industrial and manufacturing facilities. In these facilities, robots can assist human assembly line and warehouse workers, assembling some parts of products with high precision and then handing them to human agents tasked with performing additional actions.