Buying robots would be cheaper than hiring at 15 an hour – former McDonald's CEO

In a Tuesday interview on Fox Business Network's'Mornings with Maria', former McDonald's CEO Ed Rensi warned that an increased minimum wage would foment massive job loss thanks to the relatively low cost of replacing workers with intelligent machines. "It's cheaper to buy a 35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making 15 an hour bagging French fries – it's nonsense and it's very destructive and it's inflationary and it's going to cause a job loss across this country like you're not going to believe," Rensi said. Even without a 15 per hour law, Rensi said that he thinks that franchising-model businesses are moving toward automation, since they are dependent upon low-skill workers to grow. It's going to happen whether you like it or not. And the more you push this, it's going to happen faster," the former McDonald's chief said.