The accommodation and food services industry has a long history of serving travelers and providing lodging and meals for immediate consumption. This vital sector employed 14 million Americans across 273 occupations in 2019, making it one of the largest employers in the country. However, the sector is undergoing major changes as new technologies transform how hotels, restaurants, and other businesses operate.
According to the document, over 60% of jobs in the accommodation and food sector are susceptible to automation in the coming years. Jobs most at risk include fast food workers, waiters, bartenders, cashiers, front desk personnel, and other roles focused on taking orders, processing payments, checking guests in and out, and other routine tasks. Technologies enabling this disruption include self-service kiosks, mobile apps, and web sites that allow guests to place orders and manage their own hotel stays without human interaction.
Behind the scenes, collaborative robots (co-bots) and autonomous mobile robots are emerging to take over food preparation, room cleaning, luggage delivery, and other manual jobs in kitchens and hotels. While human cooks and housekeepers will still be needed in the near future, their roles will likely be transformed to focus more on managing and assisting robotic helpers rather than doing all tasks manually.
Not all accommodation and food service jobs will disappear overnight, however. The article predicts that 25% of current roles will remain unaffected by automation initially. Chefs, head cooks, facilities managers, and supervisors focused on overseeing operations will still be essential, although their responsibilities may shift from managing people to managing technology. The aim will be to find the right balance between automation and human expertise.
To adapt to the changes ahead, workers should gain skills for supervising and cooperating with robots and smart systems. Technical skills for troubleshooting and repairing automated systems will also be in demand. Additionally, anything requiring distinctly human abilities like creativity, empathy, and complex decision making will remain difficult to automate. Jobs utilizing these human strengths may proliferate in the future hospitality industry.
The technology transformations in accommodation and food services promise benefits like greater efficiency, lower costs, and expanded capabilities. But the article serves as an important reminder that innovation often comes with tradeoffs. Ensuring displaced workers can transition to new roles in a more automated economy remains a key challenge ahead. With foresight and planning, companies can implement automation ethically and sustainably while supporting their workforce through training programs and new opportunities.
