Timsup2nothin
Deity
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2013
- Messages
- 46,737
I've got to agree with Zelig. Speaking as somebody who works in a heavily-automated checkouts department, jobs are only shifted elsewhere if the employers are willing to shift them. Our department is I'd say about 50% automated at this point, averaged across the day, but there hasn't been any noticeable shift in the staffing of other departments. At the budget end of the retail business, especially, automation is about keeping prices lower than competitors, rather than freeing up income to reinvest in the business.
Your company hasn't added additional security staff? The entire UCLP job description hardly existed a few years ago, now every store of any size in my area has at least one, and stores with a lot of automated checkout frequently have more than one.
It's a win for workers in some ways, because undercover loss prevention is a much less tedious job and generally pays better than a beginning cashier to start, but cashiers tend to last longer and wind up making more, seems like.