Virtual cashier ‘zooming in’ from Philippines at New York City restaurant sparks debate about remote-work ethics
- The virtual cashier service highlights a growing trend among restaurants that are turning to such a method to cut costs and address staff shortages
- High inflation rates, limited job opportunities and global labour market dynamics are among factors driving the rise of transnational remote work, analysts say
![Filipino call centre agents attend to US clients at a facility in Quezon City, suburban Manila. File photo: AFP](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/18/ba104a3b-1ffd-4b2c-a044-c74066850880_b1ade47c.jpg?itok=F-Foy7Tz&v=1713398874)
Tech start-up founder Brett Goldstein posted on X last week about his experience at Japanese fried chicken joint Sansan Chicken in the East Village, where he encountered a Filipino woman working the cash register from over 13,000km away and who appeared on a monitor via Zoom.
“This is insane. Cashier is literally zooming into NYC from the Philippines,” he wrote.
![User Brett Goldstein’s post on his encounter with a virtual cashier in an NYC restaurant. Photo: X/@thatguybg User Brett Goldstein’s post on his encounter with a virtual cashier in an NYC restaurant. Photo: X/@thatguybg](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/18/5ea8f6ef-1ff2-4260-baf4-8042b8d5cc77_aa04ff91.jpg)
Goldstein praised his experience at the restaurant, calling the level of service friendlier “than any in-person cashiers in New York”.
Although he placed his order, a US$20 chicken katsu curry, through a self-service kiosk, the cashier was on standby and could control the point-of-sale system remotely.
He also had an option to tip the cashier, he said.
Goldstein’s tweet has received over 18 million views and spawned a variety of takes on the use of outsourcing technology to disrupting sectors such as the F&B industry.
One commenter wrote, “It’s kind of a no-brainer when you can pay this virtual worker US$5 per hour versus US$20 for a local, and this virtual worker is more grateful for the job while also treating the customer with more respect.”
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