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McDonald's Canada: kiosks will not replace employees

McDonald's Canada has recently announced that the move to integrate self-service kiosks in the chain's restaurants will not threaten job security for employees.

August 26, 2015

Recently, McDonald's began deploying self-serve kiosks across the U.S., Australia and Canada. However, the Canadian branch of McDonald's also has recently said this move will not threaten job security for employees, according to a reportby The Huffington Post.

McDonald's Canada spokesperson Adam Grachnik argued that these kiosks are not meant to replace employees. "In fact, in restaurants currently testing our self-order kiosks, the scheduled number of restaurant crew is the same or higher as without kiosks in order to support the needs of our guests," Grachnik said in an interview with The Huffington Post. "In other markets (Europe and Australia), McDonald’s has actually added more jobs as their business continues to grow."

However, some labor advocates believe this increase in employees will not last, because most of these kiosks were deployed in areas with high minimum wages. In addition, Paul Mangiamele, CEO of restaurant chain Brannigan's, said these kiosks were deployed to address rising labor costs.