Can you imagine this... sometime in the future? When you go to McDonalds drive through and order your food, you are actually speaking to a call center several states away who are processing your order? Sound like another Stallone movie? Nope, it is happening right now. Today's Rocky Mountain News reports that Colorado Springs has a call center that handles orders for 15 different McDonald's restuarants across the US. Dude who owns the call center says his call center speeds up each order on average of 30 seconds.
My position? Well, this freaks me out... and I am against it. If we are outsourcing minimum wage jobs, then what hope does someone like me have to keep my job? Though it is a clever use of technology, I think this is a very bad trend. 16 year olds need jobs to keep them off the streets and to teach them about work ethic. What's next? I'll go to the grocery store tonight and they will have to ship my groceries to India to be bagged and returned to me. Plus, there is the whole Will Smith I-Robot concern. Eventually, you will be in their database and you will here a gentle voice come back to you and say "Frankly sir, a double cheeseburger is not in your best interest. I mean, just look at you! Might we suggest a nice salad?"
Article comments
1 - Half Baked
Definitely freaky. What do you do when the junky speaker-phone thingy sounds like "Wah, wa-wha whuh"? Who do you take out your cube-ville frustrations on at lunch? I *enjoyed* that extra 30 seconds of interaction..
2 - Pappy
If the call center, as you say, is in Colorado Springs, you can go work there.
At least this isn't yet another "Outsourcing to India" story. Here, with McD's, Americans at the restaurants are being replaced by Americans in Colorado Springs. To me, no harm, no foul. People are still needed to heat the food, serve it, and clean the place up. If the call center system makes sure that my order is placed correctly, I am happy.
The reality is that there will be something for you to do. You may need to acquire a different skill set, but wasn't it Seinfeld who had a joke about people not having jobs because they are not willing to clean nasty stuff up? I believe it was. He pointed out how people were jobless, but they wouldn't touch THAT (that being whatever is truly nasty).
Of course if you really need $$$, you will do anything. Perhaps if outsourcing (Domestic and foreign) gets out of hand, we might see states and the fed gov't allow casinos and prostitution everywhere. That would do wonders for the economy.
3 - Nyx
"Of course if you really need $$$, you will do anything. "
Like rob and steal from the rich people who outsourced your job. Thats what will ulitimately happen. People with jobs will be living in armed camps, afraid to go outside.
Welcome to the New America.
4 - Lono
Whoah, hey Nyx... you sure you aren't Hunter S Thompson writing under a pen name?
5 - Nyx
Pretty sure, but I ate several mushrooms I found growing in the yard, so nothing is certain.