Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

npr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

331–340 of 521 posts

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

#331

Post by Retric »

robbiep wrote: post #321
phpisthebest wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem here is when regulation moves beyond safety into protectionism, which I submit ALOT of regulation for both hotels and taxis is FAR FAR FAR removed from simply protecting health and safety and instead is more about preventing new entrants into the market and protecting current business models

Here in australia (sydney) we’re still paying $1 per rideshare ride as ‘compensation’ for the taxi disruption. If that isn’t regulatory capture? I don’t know what is

Could also be compensation for a medallion system the government was forcing Taxi company’s to buy into.

Force people to spend X00,000$/car to enter a market and then let ride-shares ignore that requirement that’s going to push all these companies to bankruptcy simply because the newcomers don’t have to pay interest on these loans.

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

#332

Post by gilbetron »

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,…

Two big recent reasons for the shortage are retirees and reduced immigration, and the follow on effects of those. For instance, the people you are wondering about that "sit at home" are probably moving in with a relative and helping them. And there's a fair chance that relative retired earlier than planned, or was negatively impacted by covid, or both. Covid hit the old primarily, but that age group was helping out with families and communities, and now they need someone to help them.

And a longer term effect that has been going on has been a general reduction in working age males in the workforce. That one is more complex and worrisome. There's some recent research about them if you google for it.

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

#333

Post by dumpsterlid »

colpabar wrote: post #129
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is likely true. I just read a report that said that the shortage highly correlates with the reduction of immigrants due to COVID and the tightening of immigration into the US. It may not be the only factor, but it is one that contributes to the shortage of service workers. Like it or not, new immigrants are more likely to take jobs that pay less as compared to non-immigrants.

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

Immigration only inhibits wage growth when unions and workers rights are obliterated to the point that they can't fight back against corporations and make them pay a living wage to everybody. Don't act like immigration = wage growth being inhibited, that is absurdly fatalistic about there being no alternative to the status quo.

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

#334

Post by Karunamon »

notyourwork wrote: post #30
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 also select the option not to have my room cleaned each day. This has always been an option. Put the DND on your door.

Sort of. I don't like my dwelling with some amounts of my possessions present being rifled through while I am not there, but many motels are now requiring housekeeping every couple of days DND sign or not.

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

#335

Post by scarface74 »

ghaff wrote: post #316
scarface74 wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a huge disadvantage. You don’t get loyalty points are status upgrades. In the case of Hilton, that can be worth from 24% to 38% back in loyalty points per dollar spent. When Hilton isn’t running a special, I get 34 points per dollar at around .7 cents per point: - 10x base points - 10x Diamond bonus (automatic for having the Amex Hilton Aspire) - 14x Amex Hilton Aspire card But Hilton ran a 3x special May th…

I guess I don't see the disadvantage with Marriott or United with my company booking agency. I do prefer to book directly in general but I'm not traveling a lot now and also prefer to generally adhere to travel policy when there's not a good reason not to.

I’m referring to this statement;

> There's no particular disadvantage to me booking Marriott through Amex

There is a big difference between booking through Concur and booking through the Amex portal.

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

#336

Post by dumpsterlid »

alphabettsy wrote: post #54
notwokeno wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually not even sure that's it. What do you get with the tokens you're paid in? The ability to participate in society. There's no longer a society to participate in though as all the social institutions have been deconstructed. Marriage, land ownership, religion, tradition, real communities, family is still nominally there but there's little left of it. It's not like people are going to starve to death if they…

> Marriage, land ownership, religion, tradition, real communities, family is still nominally there but there's little left of it. Curious about where you live and where you grew up? I ask because none of these rings true for me. Many of my friends have bought homes and started families, along the way, they’ve created their own traditions, and are part of communities where they know their neighbors. And this isn’t in…

Great you live in a bubble!

BEFORE the pandemic most americans couldn't afford a $400 emergency bill, people are pretty desperate in the US on average and if you don't encounter that day to day you are living in comparative luxury.

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

#337

Post by chrisco255 »

matwood wrote: post #313
chrisco255 wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There has been no tightening of immigration. In particular, illegal immigration is higher than it's ever been [1]. And illegal immigrants are far more likely to work in the hotel industry as cleaners. 1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/illegal-immigration-arrests-hit...

I can't read the article completely, but it's from the summer. What about 2016-2020 plus the covid lockdowns? All that takes time to recover from.

There was never any slowdown. Briefly during the initial covid scare and briefly after Trump's election, but neither pause lasted more than a few months.

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

#338

Post by dumpsterlid »

xyzelement wrote: post #130
norvvryo wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently transitioned from long term NEET to full time work and this is hitting me hard. I just end up sitting at home alone playing video games all weekend anyway. What's the point of working the other five days? Especially if the work isn't enjoyable.

Maybe you can explain this to me because I never understand this "why work?" sentiment. How do you pay your rent, have food, etc. without working?

Some degree of support network, and when you get paid dirt and the cost to work is high itself (buying and maintaining a car being the big one) the tiny amount of money you get for a huge mental and physical toll just isn't worth it?

You are likely still going to be entirely dependent upon that support network job or no job. Jobs that are available to most people dont generally pay a living wage anymore, is that not sinking in for you?

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

#339

Post by hinata08 »

norvvryo wrote: post #57
notwokeno wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually not even sure that's it. What do you get with the tokens you're paid in? The ability to participate in society. There's no longer a society to participate in though as all the social institutions have been deconstructed. Marriage, land ownership, religion, tradition, real communities, family is still nominally there but there's little left of it. It's not like people are going to starve to death if they…

I recently transitioned from long term NEET to full time work and this is hitting me hard. I just end up sitting at home alone playing video games all weekend anyway. What's the point of working the other five days? Especially if the work isn't enjoyable.

OP's article wasn't about choosing between not working and working in hotels, it's about hotel workers who moved on to other industries after a few years of covid. They're no longer available to work in hotels, no matter how you compensate them : they move on and are happy with their new job and lives.

But in your situation, if you have the opportunity to work, you can do it to grow the GDP and make your wage. You can't just expect that others, who might also dislike their jobs, have to pay taxes to share their salary with you just because you don't want to work.

There are real issues that cause unemployment : real estate that prices out workers in cities with jobs, banks that expect you to have a job before giving you a credit, when you need to afford a license and a car before you start a job, inconsistencies between companies expectations and job seekers, injuries, depression or lack of confidence,...

But being a crybaby about working isn't a reason to piggy back on workers.

I'm not even neoliberal, I'm communist. And I think you should work both for yourself and for the sake of the others.

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

#340

Post by Karunamon »

michaelt wrote: post #258
jltsiren wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've started to dislike this perspective, because it feels like an "if the only tool you have is a hammer..." kind of explanation. It's a valid perspective, but it's not the only one, and other perspectives are often more useful. Maybe the issue is just that hotels don't want to pay enough. Maybe there is an actual shortage. Then any single hotel can solve the shortage by paying more, but hotels in general can't. Or…

> Maybe there is an actual shortage. Then any single hotel can solve the shortage by paying more, but hotels in general can't. Sure they can - by drawing workers from other, non-hotel sectors; and other locations. You think all those people delivering for uber eats and making 1-hour amazon deliveries couldn't learn to make a bed? And if your hotel's in the expensive city centre and your workers have to travel from th…

Those people driving for those gig apps often value the flexibility of not having a set schedule. I don't think that style of work is very compatible with hotel housekeeping.
Post reply on HN