'Bar Rescue' Host Jon Taffer: Minimum Wage Hike Will Convince Businesses to Use Robots

‘Bar Rescue’ host Jon Taffer says the debate between a human being vs. machine in the workforce can be decided by simple economics.

“If it’s more cost effective to put a machine in to cook a hamburger, slice a French fry, cook this, do that, wash this, mow this, then that’s the move that’s made. It’s sheer economics,” Taffer told the FOX Business Network’s Charles Payne.

Harvard Business School recently released a study outlining the effects of minimum wage hikes on entry-level jobs and poor minorities. Researchers found a $1 increase in the minimum wage leads to a 4% to 10% chance of a restaurant folding.

Taffer said a minimum wage hike is the greatest gift you can give to the advancement of robotics and automation in the workforce.

“We run our businesses based on a percentage of revenue. If I can only spend 30% of revenue on labor, then it’s less bodies now that equals that 30%,” he said.

The entrepreneur said it’s a lot easier to manage a machine than it is a human being, and the option of using robotics in the workforce becomes more appealing when the government gets involved.

“They [machines] never call in sick. You know exactly what the production is, you know exactly what the maintenance schedule is, there’s no paid vacation time,” Taffer said.