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Marriott, Alexa, & the Rising Fear of Automation in the Workplace



Automation in some industries has become a major talking point over the past few years as employers seek to offset rising labor costs by eliminating some jobs and replacing those workers with robots, machines, and other automated equipment.  It is worth noting that while manufacturing positions have a long history of automation, some positions (including in the hotel industry) have largely avoided being phased out by the increase in technology in the workplace. 

However, thousands of workers at Marriott have recently voted to authorize their union, Unite Here, to strike at locations stretching from Waikiki Beach to San Diego to Detroit and all the way to Boston.  Their reasoning?  In part, asking the hotel chain to adopt procedures to protect workers affected by new technologies.  This is likely due in part to an agreement that Marriott reached with Amazon to have the Echo put in hotel rooms across Marriott's properties.  For those unaware, the Echo is a voice controlled personal assistant device that responds to the name "Alexa".  This device can communicate with a person, play music, make lists, set alarms, and provide weather/traffic information, among other tasks.  It follows that the Echo could also be programmed to serve as a check in service, take room service orders, and make reservations at restaurant, among other tasks currently covered by hotel staff and concierges at hotels.

It is important to have some perspective here, as studies have found that each new robot deployed in the workplace cuts 5.6 jobs and reduces wages by .5 percent.  As well, last year the McKinsey Global Institute issued a report that projected technology would create a 30 percent decline in jobs in food service and lodging up to 2030.  That projected decline would be on par with the 38 percent decline in manufacturing jobs from 1960 to 2012 (although it is not clear that automation was entirely responsible for that 38 percent decline over that period of time).

With that being said, with the Echo gaining a foothold in the hotel chain, workers at Marriott (and elsewhere) are starting to take the threat of automation seriously.  Is there a solution that will make all parties happy?  Maybe, but maybe not.  For the time being, let this most recent example of automation in the workplace serve as a reminder to employers and employees alike:  More and more jobs are becoming vulnerable to automation.  As Unite Here's President put it, "The question is whether workers will be partners in its [the technology's] deployment or bystanders that get run over by it."



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