Robots could exacerbate labour shortages in the hotel and restaurant industry, research shows

‘Robot-phobia’ could exacerbate hotel and restaurant industry labour shortages, researchers say. — AFP Relaxnews

In recent years, scientists have designed numerous robots for the service industry. These machines are capable of preparing food, serving, clearing up or even greeting customers, without ever taking a break. All of which has raised fears among the sector's (human) workers.

Chun-Chu Bamboo Chen and Ruiying Cai, two researchers from Washington State University, surveyed over 620 employees working in the lodging and food service industry to find out how they felt about the arrival of robotic technology in their sector. They found that employees have very ambivalent attitudes towards these machines.