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HOTEL COMPANIES
MUST NAVIGATE
THEIR APPROACH TO AUTOMATION
— AND THE EMPLOYEES IT
DISPLACES .
Contributed by ELLIS BOOKER
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While there ’ s little dispute that backend automation has brought hotels operational savings — remember the days before computerized reservation systems ? — there ’ s ongoing debate within the industry about how hospitality brands should deploy customer-facing , advanced technologies like AI and robotics . Meanwhile , as these companies test the tech waters and navigate consumer expectations , they face
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sharp reactions from unions worried about how all this will reduce , or even eliminate , hotel service jobs .
“ Almost every job classification is vulnerable to technology ,” says Rachel Gumpert , national press secretary for Unite Here , which represents 7,700 Marriott workers in eight U . S . cities . In addition to AI and robots , new-gig economy services like Grubhub are a concern to Unite Here because they jeopardize kitchen and bellman jobs . “ We ’ ve had
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entire hotels eliminate dining because they rely on these services ,” she says .
The union , which commenced striking U . S . Marriott properties in October , has since settled with all of the cities . Along with the usual demands for higher wages and better workplace safety , United Here ’ s longest strike to date was focused on union review of proposed technology deployments .
As the union ’ s president , Donald “ D ” Taylor , told
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January / February 2019 hotelsmag . com 51 |