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Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

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Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#171

Post by altacc »

matt3210 wrote: post #31

Its not a shortage of workers, it's a shortage of underpayable workers.

From this article and others that I have read, it is also about work/life balance. Pay is getting better in some places and that gives options. Previously those working 14 unsociable hours a day seemed to be either highly paid execs or lowly paid service workers (yes, a generalization). I imagine that the latter have jumped at the chance to move into the comfortable middle that a lot of HN readers occupy. Many economies have relied on significant numbers of people having no choice but to accept bad pay, conditions & hours and it'll take time to adjust but they really should. Everyone should be able to have a good work/life balance and be paid adequately for a full day's work.

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#172

Post by Gigachad »

TylerE wrote: post #139
Gigachad wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can deliver food with a motorbike or regular bike. I imagine delivering food in an inner city area on a bicycle is actually pretty decent since your expenses are minimal. I see quite a lot of people delivering on e-bikes daily.

Sounds like a great way to get mugged to me

Not everyone lives in a war zone.

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#173

Post by colpabar »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #146
colpabar wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way of saying this is that immigration inhibits wage growth.

You can also say that tight immigration leads to automation. Companies will do their best to find ways to reduce costs and increase profits. So limiting immigration will not necessarily lead to wage growth. Also, the employee shortage will only get worse as the number of older american increases and number of working age employees shrinks. If it's bad now, it's only going to get worse as time passes.

> You can also say that tight immigration leads to automation. Companies will do their best to find ways to reduce costs and increase profits. So limiting immigration will not necessarily lead to wage growth.

That's fair, but technically I didn't say it would lead to wage growth. My point is that loose immigration allows capital to keep wages at their current levels, or lower them, because it's still probably better for those immigrating here than from where (whence?) they emigrated.

> Also, the employee shortage will only get worse as the number of older american increases and number of working age employees shrinks. If it's bad now, it's only going to get worse as time passes.

But is immigration the only solution to this problem? I get that birth rates are low, but it seems like that's due in large part to having kids being really expensive, on top of everything else being really expensive due to inflation. I don't get why we don't incentivize americans to have more kids. I get that orban is a controversial figure, but his plan [0] seems like a good thing for a government to do for its citizens. Why does helping families have to be a right-wing policy?

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/04/baby-bonuses-f...

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#174

Post by altacc »

makeitdouble wrote: post #66
missedthecue wrote: post #3

I wonder where everyone has gone. The lazy answer is that companies aren't paying enough. But how is it better to sit at home making $0 than working and having an income? How do they afford rent or electricity or pay for car insurance? The workforce participation rate is still well below pre-pandemic levels. Millions of people just up and left the workforce. It's not as if they are looking for work at the right wage,…

> But how is it better to sit at home making $0 than working and having an income? I had that very discussion with a co-worker leaving. They told me working wasn't worth their time, and they'd better care for their home, family, themselves etc. instead. And it wasn't that they were rich or their partner had a high paying job, more that the cost of daycare, private teacher, eating outside every day, work related stuff…

I wonder if being forced to spend more time at home during the pandemic reset people's exceptions.

To your point specifically, we used to be one of those families. Once we had children it did not work out a benefit for my partner to work in the field that she wants to work in (healthcare) as it did not pay enough. The additional net income of a full time job worked out to be about $200/month, which just wasn't worth it.

This changed once we moved country, to one where getting people with children back into the workforce is supported by both the government and companies, with greater flexibility from work and better subsidised childcare.

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#176

Post by paganel »

codazoda wrote: post #2

In some Las Vegas hotels I no longer need to stop at a counter or stand in a line and it’s 1000x better experience. I can walk directly to my room and scan my phone. I can scan my phone for parking. I can grab extra keys at a kiosk, if I need them. I never have to talk to anyone, if I don’t want to. I also select the option not to have my room cleaned each day. I’ll ask someone in the hall for towels if I stay long e…

> I never have to talk to anyone, if I don’t want to.

I have seen this attitude at more and more people, where does it come from? Meaning not wanting to talk with other people. It's what makes us humans, talking with other people. The alternative is lots and lots of money paid on psychotherapy and the like further down the road, or worse.

Because actively avoiding talking to other people it's like bringing your car for regular checkups every 100k miles instead of ~15-20k miles, which will of course irremediably damage it.

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#177

Post by kilroy123 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #67
mc32 wrote: post #41

Some cheap European hotels are made like the expensive toilet booths where they basically just hose them down —-no fancy carpeting. All surfaces except the bedding are washable. Makes for easy cleanup and quick turnaround. It’s not for everyone of course.

In Europe it's not uncommon (or at least, it isn't unheard of) to need to bring your own bed sheets and towels from home.

Where?

I’m not trying to brag but I’ve been to all seven continents of this world and many places in Europe. Never once have I seen this.

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#178

Post by mym1990 »

paganel wrote: post #176
codazoda wrote: post #2

In some Las Vegas hotels I no longer need to stop at a counter or stand in a line and it’s 1000x better experience. I can walk directly to my room and scan my phone. I can scan my phone for parking. I can grab extra keys at a kiosk, if I need them. I never have to talk to anyone, if I don’t want to. I also select the option not to have my room cleaned each day. I’ll ask someone in the hall for towels if I stay long e…

> I never have to talk to anyone, if I don’t want to. I have seen this attitude at more and more people, where does it come from? Meaning not wanting to talk with other people. It's what makes us humans, talking with other people. The alternative is lots and lots of money paid on psychotherapy and the like further down the road, or worse. Because actively avoiding talking to other people it's like bringing your car f…

They did say 'if they don't want to'...and how many of us can honestly say that we want to talk to someone ALL OF THE TIME?

Talking to someone about checking in for a hotel room, after waiting for 10 minutes in a check in line...is not what I would call a fulfilling experience. Communication does not make us human, plenty of other species communicate...there are far more intricate and unique things that make us what we are.

You're equating someone's wish to not have to wait at a check out counter to being anti-social...come on.

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#179

Post by PakistaniDenzel »

grogenaut wrote: post #167
dragonwriter wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hotels should start proposing discounts for not cleaning the room every day. Hotels have, in many cases, just stopped having daily room cleaning, without offering a discount: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hotels-end-basic-amenities-no-m...

But that is a discount, they didn't raise your rates.

It's equivalent to the shrinkflation you see in supermarkets, I wouldn't call that a discount

Re: Hotels turn to robots and room cleanings every 4 days to ease staffing shortages

#180

Post by saiya-jin »

kortilla wrote: post #147
lotsofpulp wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially since the hotel and the hotel’s insurers ended up paying $800M: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/las-vegas-shooting-settlement-m... > Jim Frantz, whose San Diego-based law firm represents another 199 victims including Romo, said Thursday's settlement is a good first step. Now MGM must strengthen the security protocol at all their facilities, he said. >"I would assume a responsible business, after going through…

I wonder if the lawyer is really that stupid or just puts on a good act to help sell this nonsense. Requiring security at the hotel is as dumb as requiring security at the high rise condos just down the street (they don’t and nobody would buy them if they did).

Definitely a sales pitch from the clueless tone, aiming outright at most extreme measures. End game would be optic nerve chip to make sure everybody is in line and not being threat... few big attacks and many people would even welcome it
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