If the CEO of Jack in the Box has his way, you could be ordering your next Jumbo Jack from a kiosk.
Business Insider reports that Jack in the Box CEO Leonard Comma said on Tuesday that "it just makes sense" for the fast food chain to consider replacing employees with automated machines, citing the rising cost of labor in California.
Comma made the remarks at ICR Conference, an investment conference currently taking place in Orlando.
According to Business Insider, Jack in the Box has experimented with self-ordering kiosks in the past. Comma says the machines lowered costs, but at the time, implementing them at all locations didn't make sense.
However, with many states raising minimum wage, fast food chains worry the cost of labor could prevent them from making low-priced food with high profit margins. California — where Jack in the Box is based — has already raised it's minimum wage to $10.50 an hour for people under 25, and will continue to steadilyraise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2023.
Last year, Wendy's announced it would install self-ordering kiosks at 1,000 locations, Months later, McDonald's also announced it was installing self-ordering kiosks at 2,500 locations.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
