New York City restaurants are hiring "Zoom cashiers" from the Philippines to reduce costs.
Sansan Ramen and Sansan Chicken use a service that lets them employ virtual cashiers in place of local workers to interact with customers via Zoom. Both were early adopters of the service, and it’s been causing a stir on the food scene, with an increasing number of restaurants deciding to use it as a way to lower costs.
According to Time Out, the virtual cashiers are usually located in Southeast Asia, where the minimum wage is remarkably low. In the Philippines, for example, it’s $186.97 per month. By comparison, New York City’s minimum wage is $16 an hour. Customers order their food from a virtual cashier via Zoom on a flat-screen monitor.
There are several reasons why this is problematic for restaurants. Notwithstanding the notion of slave labor, virtual cashiers take away jobs from local workers. According to some New York Times reporters, the technology is unreliable as well. Zoom doesn't always have the most stable connection and virtual cashiers are sometimes inexperienced with the menu. Tipping, however, is shared between the virtual cashiers and the on-site cooks and manager.
Restaurants across Manhattan, Queens, Jersey City, and Long Island City are now embracing this new trend, led by companies like Happy Cashier. For businesses, it's a win because it helps lower costs, which is crucial as many are still recovering from COVID. However, the outlook isn't as promising for workers. Only time will tell if this trend will continue to grow.
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