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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

#401
post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a stretch. Binary triggers are tricky to use, and aren't nearly automatic. They're slightly more automatic than semi-automatic, but much, much less usable. In terms of illegal weapons, yes. There are illegal fully automatic weapons in the US without taking your example into account. I'm talking about what's legal.

This sub-thread started on the Vegas massacre, where the shooter used a bump stock. It was legal at the time and pretty damn close to automatic.

That's fair, although I still don't think it's that close. An actually automatic weapon is the sort of thing militaries use, and witout minimising the horror that a bump stock can cause, I think they do far more.

Back to my original point, it's still wrong to say this will happen while we have automatic weapons. Why perpetuate a lie?

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

#402

As a person who used to work for housekeeping department in various London hotels I can tell there's no shortage of labour, there's a shortage for slaves. Hospitality jobs, housekeeping in particular, is modern slavery.

And London hotel prices can be crazy high. They should be able to pay their staff decent wages

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

#403
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…

Even pre-pandemic I never liked people coming in my room during my stay. First thing I always did when checking in was put the 'DND' placard on my door. All these changes just fit with how I operated for years.

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

#404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus they’re not banning mobile phones or computers, and the best way to get something on fire is to shortcut a Li-ion battery - how much energy does a macbook contain.

How many laptops or phones have exploded on planes?

I think you might be mis-reading the GP's point. It's not that it's a common occurrence for laptops to spontaneously combust, but rather than an adversary could intentionally cause one (or several) to do so.

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

#405

I personally hate it if someone comes into my room and cleans it. Home sweet home is a so much better experience than being in a hotel, even the more expensive ones.

I actually rather like the experience in ultra cheap third world places where you can put your own padlock on the door. There's something nice about being able to leave your stuff including valuables around without worrying about random staff coming in.

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

#406

Again, it’s not a staffing shortage, it’s an entire population fleeing an industry due to a pay shortage

That's still a staffing shortage... If people aren't willing to work at the wages hotels are looking to pay then their job will be replaced by robots.

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

#407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solution to this in Canada seems to be to allow a lot of immigrants from poorer countries, willing to live two to a bedroom. Fast food places, Walmart, and other places are now fully staffed thanks to that policy. I know for a fact that it's the case, because in my town it's a very large demographic change from recognizable ethnicity where 5 years ago there was almost none. Unfortunately Canada is a a very expens…

I have noticed this, too, in numerous different cities and towns throughout Canada, over the same time period that you mention. This approach hasn't been good for anyone involved. The employees typically seem quite miserable, as would be expected given their circumstances. Economically, this approach also significantly increases demand for supply-constrained housing, health care, infrastructure, and goods. This in tu…

The payback is over generations. Children of immigrants historically have higher fertility rates and higher participation in the workforce. Someone seems miserable at work but they’re living for their grandkids.

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

#408
post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sub-thread started on the Vegas massacre, where the shooter used a bump stock. It was legal at the time and pretty damn close to automatic.

That's fair, although I still don't think it's that close. An actually automatic weapon is the sort of thing militaries use, and witout minimising the horror that a bump stock can cause, I think they do far more. Back to my original point, it's still wrong to say this will happen while we have automatic weapons. Why perpetuate a lie?

Several states and the Federal government found bump stock close enough to automatic that they are no longer legal. I’d guess the quote from the article is referring to the same point of view, a thin line from the perspective of the non gun-owning layman.

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

#409

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.

Notice that wages of hotel maids has not increased. Their jobs have just been automated. Immigration slows automation.

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

#410

Again, it’s not a staffing shortage, it’s an entire population fleeing an industry due to a pay shortage

Fleeing to where? Are other industries paying better? Except for niches like tech, wages are stagnant across the board.

Gig work is a big one. Gig work is taking a huge bite out of the lower-income + more physical service jobs. You still have no benefits and your pay sucks, but you at least can usually control your hours and you don't need to worry about being penalized/fired for getting sick/needing a few days to care for kids/etc.
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