Robot hunched over to carry dishes, helping employees receive more tips

A chain of restaurants in Florida has started paying $1000 a month to use a robot to carry the dishes, surprisingly, this helps employees receive more tips, The New York Times reported.

Carlos Gazitua, owner and CEO of restaurant chain Sergio, said that he added Softbank’s Servi robot to one of his restaurants in July when he was struggling to find workers.

Servi robot at the restaurant chain Sergio

Robots carry food from the kitchen to the dining room, where waiters receive plates and deliver them to customers’ tables. Employees can talk to customers more and serve more tables, Gazitua said, which has resulted in customers giving larger tips.

“For the first two hours, the service staff were amazed!” Gazitua said. Now, all 6 restaurants in the restaurant chain Sergio have used robots.

The Servi robot uses 3D cameras and laser sensing technology to navigate around the tables and customers in the restaurant.

Gazitua wants the robots to become employees’ “personal assistants” by carrying dishes and taking dirty dishes back to the dishwasher area, he said. ” This will make the service staff 25-30% more efficient, so they can focus more on the customer and earn more in return.”

Gazitua used the Servi robot for the first time when the restaurant chain was at a “crisis” point of labor shortages, Gazitua said: ” We couldn’t find any employees.”

Other restaurants have also turned to robots amid labor shortages.

In September, a Latin American restaurant in Texas began hiring three robots for $15 a day to serve customers as the company looked for employees. The restaurant owner said the robot can greet customers, bring food to the table and sing.

Reference: BusinessInsider