Comment by voidhorse

Raw magnitudes are meaningless when discussing economics. Wages are still being outpaced by costs. There is no sense in which a barista is working a "high paying" job. At current rates it could well be the case that running AI to upkeep a functioning coffee shop ends up being significantly more expensive, even with no insurance, PTO, etc. Keep in mind most companies aren't exactly giving their workers generous policies in these regards in the first place.