INDIANAPOLIS -- The McDonald's restaurant in Broad Ripple hosted its grand re-opening after renovations Tuesday morning, and the biggest change is a controversial one.
The McDonald's now has self-ordering kiosks to order your food in the store. The kiosks were first unveiled late last year in a trial program, and they've been added to stores throughout the country.
The kiosks let you order and pay for your food through a touchscreen, without speaking to a person until it's time to pick up your order.
The controversy comes from those kiosks. Many believe they will replace actual employees at the store, leading to lost jobs for the workers. This also comes as many McDonald's employees are in a "Fight for 15," meaning a $15 per hour minimum wage.
But McDonald's has repeatedly said the kiosks won't result in lost jobs for anybody. Instead, McDonald's said the cashier jobs will change to table service (also a new feature at the Broad Ripple location) and other roles within the building.
"Our CEO, Steve Easterbrook, has said on many occasions that self-order kiosks in McDonald’s restaurants are not a labor replacement," a spokeswoman told Business Insider in June. "They provide an opportunity to transition back-of-the-house positions to more customer service roles such as concierges and table service where they are able to truly engage with guests and enhance the dining experience."
Gov. Eric Holcomb and former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard were in attendance for the re-opening.
The video below shows a breakdown on how the kiosks work.
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