Starbucks and Amazon’s Partnership Is a Lesson That American Workers Shouldn’t Ignore

Two giants of industry are bringing you a cafe with no workers. Are you scared? You should be.

There was some interesting news trending on LinkedIn last week. The headline simply read something along the lines of “Two giants of industry team up for a people-free coffee.” I knew right away that the story would be considerably more ominous than the headline implied. As it turns out, New York City residents are about to get a new coffee option. Coming soon to East 59th Street between Park and Lexington Avenue is a Starbucks cafe that will offer the full drink and food menu with an area for patrons to sit, socialize and work. The only difference is that this location will function without any cashiers or other human personnel.

As you might have guessed, Starbucks is taking inspiration from the approach to retail taken from its partner pioneered with its AmazonGo locations. Amazon’s surveillance tech made it possible for it to operate brick and mortar retail locations with essentially no personnel and it was only a matter of time before the day when this job-killing trend spread to other industries. As it turns out, that day is here.