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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

#261

Post by chrisco255 »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #82
matt3210 wrote: post #31

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

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.

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...

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

#262

Post by rjh29 »

Even Japan, a country fairly famous for overemploying people, is doing this.

Hotels - self-service checkin, although you do at least speak to a human at the beginning, and if they're not busy they'll do the whole thing the old-fashioned way

Convenience stores / supermarkets - self-service registers, or self-service payment

Karaoke - self-service sign in and payment, even ordered a beer and was told to open the door, a robot was waiting outside with a beer balanced on its head.

Izakaya - sit down, use a tablet to order everything

I have mixed feelings about it, in the UK I want everything automated, but in Japan their service is so good that I find myself missing it.

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

#263

Post by [deleted] »

kortilla wrote: post #150
ninth_ant wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rate it’s gone up is a red herring. If people don’t want to take the job at the posted rate then they are underpaying. Instead of comparing if your pay has gone up 25%, ask if you’d rather take one of those jobs than yours. Because apparently that’s an option if you want. There are almost certainly miserable working conditions, bad hours, and still an overall low wage. If people are able to find better jobs, then…

Megacorps is a red herring and emotional appeal. The same applies just as much to small businesses in the same industries.

[deleted]

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

#264

Post by thirteenfingers »

MarkPNeyer wrote: post #255
TeMPOraL wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the cockroaches and rats won't just materialize out of thin air In practice, you can assume they do - it's a simplified but accurate model of reality when you're not researching the life of insects and rodents. Yes, life does not appear "out of thin air", but it constantly tries to get in, will exploit any crack in your defenses or attention to chase after anything that looks or smells like food or safety. It's sim…

We had a mouse problem once. The ended up being a small hole drilled in the side of the house to install a cat5 cable for a security camera. The hole couldn't have been more than 1.5 cm in diameter, and it had a cat 5 cable running through it - but apparently this was enough space for a mouse to squeeze through.

Obligatory Matthias Wandel video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHOx39xJack

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

#266

Post by IncRnd »

grishka wrote: post #198
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…

Don't you just love how our society "fights" terrorism? Someone used something to kill someone, so let's ruin that thing for everyone, forever! Also see: air travel. I was a kid in the 90s and so I didn't fly before 9/11, but people say it was a much more enjoyable experience.

Pre 9/11 to now for air travel is the difference between day and night. It's not even close. This pretend, fake security we have today imposes so many burdens and costs on people who wish to travel. The least suspicious would easily think that the changes were meant to federalize a big portion of many people's lives.

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

#267

Post by cafard »

For some years, I have taught ESL. One recent student worked on a hotel cleaning crew. She did not particularly enjoy it. She also said that when traveling she always took her own sheets, since she did not trust hotel crews to keep them clean or change them between guests.

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

#268

Post by nly »

emptybits wrote: post #74
lotsofpulp wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single hotel or motel should be doing full clean between guest visits, otherwise it should not even be allowed to operate. But if a hotel starts letting people stay weeks without checking their room, they will inevitably end up with hoarders and people that keep food lying around and then comes cockroaches and rats and odors, etc.

> But if a hotel starts letting people stay weeks without checking their room, ... Yet I think people regularly stay for weeks with Airbnb/Vrbo without any host inspection or cleaning. I agree with your conclusion (filthy guests who stay weeks invite pest problems) ... so if the big bad old hotel industry needs to market their advantages, maybe there's an Institutuionally Clean angle.

With Airbnb you're on the hook for cleaning costs..at a hotel the assumption is the hotel will clean up your mess (as long as it's not extreme or unreasonable)

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

#269

Post by armchairhacker »

rjh29 wrote: post #262

Even Japan, a country fairly famous for overemploying people, is doing this. Hotels - self-service checkin, although you do at least speak to a human at the beginning, and if they're not busy they'll do the whole thing the old-fashioned way Convenience stores / supermarkets - self-service registers, or self-service payment Karaoke - self-service sign in and payment, even ordered a beer and was told to open the door,…

I see it as a good thing, in that we really don’t need people for that stuff, so overall it saves time and effort.

I see it as a bad thing when those former people are now unemployed, and also people are lonelier because we don’t have small talk. Those are 2 issues that absolutely need to be addressed. However bad (i.e. low paying and toxic) service jobs and lack of small talk are issues which we seem to be having in general

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

#270

Post by phpisthebest »

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…

That is like every Hilton Hotel, been doing that for over a year now.

Marriot is starting that program as well

Soo much nicer

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