Thought this subject might be a good one to think about -

Personally, I rarely use them. My belief is that the young workforce needs beginning jobs to get hands on experience. Cashier is one such job. There used to be guys that pumped your gas as well. In PA we now, for the most part, pump our own gas.

I see the self check out as taking away potential employment.

Most recently I see McD's as testing some kind of "Self ordering Kiosks" for customers to place their orders. Again, fewer employees, more profits but I hope the idea is a bust.

I see senior citizens running registers as well. If they can't afford to retire (which many apparently can't) this is a job they can do. I do not look down on these employees as it could well be me in that position. I am pleased they have work.

Do you use the self check out? Why?

Yes, because I value my time.

Prefer to go to cashier, but will go to self service if there is a line for cashiers.

Depends how much stuff I have. It I have 2-3 things yes.

If I have one or two small items it is much easier to do self checkout, especially when you've done it in that store a couple times and are familiar with the computer screens.

Also they have this system at the Panera Bread by me. I'm not waiting in a line of 5 people, god knows how many dozens of bagels they are ordering in front of me, when I can just punch in my coffee, take my own cup and be done.

quote:

Do you use the self check out? Why?

Yes, we have to because they keep raising the minimum wage.

Only if the registers are crowded. If you are checking out with alcohol, you still need to wait for someone to check your ID, and many times I have bagged something light and I keep getting the "please place the object in the bag" because it didn't read it and it won't let you go any further. So you still have to wait for someone to come clear it. I can't stand them.

I leave the carts where they fall and told my girlfriend it's job security for the cart boys.

Your post validates my concept of job creation.

I prefer the self serve. The items are entered correctly the first time and there's never a mistake when I leave. Otherwise I have to check the receipt by hand and the number of price errors etc is surprising for as little as I buy.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
I see the self check out as taking away potential employment.

You obviously haven't been to either of the Home Depots near me. Four self check out machines, worked furiously by two or more Home Depot employees constantly resetting them, or trying to fix issues with them. I fail to see the benefit. Two cashiers could easily handle this volume of customers, and far more efficiently. I refuse to use these things primarily for that reason.

quote:

Most recently I see McD's as testing some kind of "Self ordering Kiosks" for customers to place their orders. Again, fewer employees, more profits but I hope the idea is a bust.

I don't eat at McDonald's (ever) but I hope the new kiosks work well in their stores. The minimum wage, lefty, morons are pushing this outcome, not the store owners.

I go the path of least resistance, be it the self check-out or the cashier line.

I use it because it's faster and more accurate. I only use the lane if I have a grocery cart worth of items and need someone to help me check out while I bag.

There will always be entry level jobs. When you eliminate the bottom jobs, you free up the work force to do sightly more productive things. What becomes entry level just moves up a touch.

If technology didn't progress, we would still all be tilling and harvesting the land by hand, and nearly everyone would be engaged in producing food just to survive. Because technology progresses, we have the resources and time to create jobs like engineers, chemists, mechanics, etc, which further drives our economy.

People looking for entry level jobs will just have to find something else sightly more productive to do. Amazon Prime delivery, on demand food delivery, and Uber driving comes to mind.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Yes, because I value my time.

^^ Ding, winner...

I generally don't like people so if I can use one I will.

Can't wait to have them at fast food places, sheetz has them and they work well....albeit slightly slower

I do it because it makes me feel nostalgic. Years ago I was a cashier at a grocery store. It also saves me time since the self checkout lanes typically don't have a line.

I use them when lines are so backed up because the slowest people in the world run the actual register. As far as jobs for young folks....well, they have to want a job first. Most are more interested in their twat feed rather than gaining job experience. My cousins 17 year old daughter worked at McDonald's for 2 HOURS before she said it was too hard and quit. 2 freaking hours. How can you justify paying someone $7.50 or whatever the minimum wage is to look at their phone screen all day?

It was a much different world 15 years ago. There was no social media and very rarely would you see a teen with a cell phone. If you did, they were typically just that, a phone. Now, you can't walk through a store without being bumped into by some dumb cell phone zombie who cannot be bothered to look up to see where they are going.

Honestly, it is going to be a cold day in hell before the problem sorts itself out. As to the older folks running a cash register....Great. Those are the only ones who truly seem to want a job right now. I don't think it's because they can't afford retirement though. I believe it has more to do with the fact that they are supporting leeches (kids/grandchildren) and are thus having to work to supplement what is being sucked up by them.

I don't use them because the few times I tried I had a problem every single time.

Regarding Fast Food checkout, I'll be the germophobe in this thread.
Yeah, I want to eat food with my hands after touching that kiosk screen that 1200 people before me, with questionable hygiene, have touched.

I almost always use self checkout as it is much faster. Our Meijer has self checkout areas for small and large orders. FYI the cashiers I see are anything but young.

What I really like about the small order self checkout is that the line is for all 8 of the checkouts and the next person in line goes to whatever self checkout becomes available. That way if you get an idiot with a bunch on coupons and a check you are not stuck behind that person like if you go into the regular cashier manned checkout area.

If they offer a self checkout, I use it.

Reasonable arguments.

So if these "first time" jobs go away, what replaces them?

For some (imo) this a reasonable step as far as employment. For others there won't be another step up.

Employers need people with some basic skills. Sometimes the public schools are producing them, sometimes they are producing tree hugger idealists. Don't forget the political leaning of a majority of teachers.

If a "living wage" is required for first time employees I am guessing you are not going to like the new price of your bagels.

I NEVER use the self service because it is never really self service. There is always at least one item that won't scan properly or has the wrong price, so then you have to WAIT until a clerk comes to investigate. So "self service" = "extra slow sevirce".