383 Cutting labor costs through innovation

Not all jobs lost are outsourced overseas, Mr. Kerry (who seems a bit naive about this, in my opinion). Some become victims of innovation. At Meijer’s the other day I noticed carousels of plastic bags immediately behind the cashiers have taken the place of baggers, most of whom were either new immigrants who spoke little English, mentally or physically challenged, or retirees from other jobs. Most of the baggers have probably been put to work in other places in the store like stocking shelves if they have the skills to read and use small computers, but I know some have been let go. It will be hard for people with no communication skills to find other work.

There are also self-check out stalls in most stores now, (also in some libraries) but I don’t see that reducing labor costs much, since a staff person needs to be near by to assist, but it speeds things up for people with a few items. Barcodes--now 30 years old--put a lot of clerks into other jobs and moved customers through lines faster--saving billions a year for retailers in labor costs. And barcodes will probably be replaced by RFIDs.