These days, every cashier wants a tip, but what if they’re on the other side of the world?
A new restaurant chain in New York is outsourcing its staff to the Philippines, using screens with virtual hostesses on Zoom calls instead of in-person employees to greet customers and help them with payment.
The stores – specializing in fried chicken and ramen – are taking advantage of the huge wealth gap between New York, where the minimum wage is $16 an hour, and a Southeast Asian country where the wage hourly is closer to $3.75.
But when customers check out at Sansan Chicken, Sansan Ramen or Yaso Kitchen — with locations in Manhattan, Queens and Jersey City — they’re still asked to add a tip of up to 18 percent on top of their bill.
Recently, at Sansan Chicken in Long Island City, a Post reporter was greeted by Pie, a 33-year-old virtual hostess who works from her living room in the Philippine city of Subic.
The cheerful remote worker said she was employed by a company called Happy Cashier and loved her job.
Pie declined to reveal how much she was paid, but said customers sometimes left generous tips despite the fact she wasn’t there in person.
She once received $40 at Yaso Kitchen in Jersey City, she said – adding that she split the tips with her manager and the restaurant’s kitchen staff.
This idea that raises eyebrows among customers is related: Some appreciated the novelty, while others thought the lack of human interaction took away something valuable.
“I think you lose an element of connection with someone when they’re not physically there,” a customer named Catherine told Sansan Ramen at LIC.
“I also don’t know if it takes away anyone’s job. I think it’s important that we support our communities and that people in the community connect with their customer base.
The dynamics of the operation appear to be shrouded in secrecy. It is unclear whether the hostesses work for the restaurant or for a third-party company that hires them.
It is also unclear who owns the restaurants and how much the hostesses are paid.
The Post could not reach the companies’ owners, and employees would not divulge information about their bosses when asked by a reporter.
Even though the new restaurants combine two of Americans’ least favorite activities — tipping and outsourcing jobs — they could be the future of customer service, says one technology expert.
Brett Goldstein, a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur who published an article about Chicken Sansan on Mercer Street in Manhattan in a thread now viral on Xpointed out that virtual staffing provides a “clear way to reduce costs” that could lead to even more eerily dystopian advancements in the future.
“Today it’s a Filipino woman behind a screen, controlling a point-of-sale system – but it’s not crazy to believe that probably in the next six to twelve months, it could be an AI avatar doing all the same things,” he said.
He acknowledged that tips could be a huge bonus for outsourced workers – who live in a country where the median monthly wage is just $325 a month.
Pie, who has been working in this role for about six months, appears to be covering three different restaurants at the same time by switching between different screens.
The virtual hostesses are part of the restaurant’s charm, she says.
“Customers come in and are surprised to find a virtual checkout,” she said. “Some people think we are (artificial intelligence) – they ask you if you are real.”
At least a few customers appreciated the novelty.
“It’s really interesting and different,” Dan O’Keefe, a 34-year-old conductor for Metro North, told the Post.
“I thought it was fun.”
However, things don’t always go well.
A reporter who tried to order coffee at Yaso Kitchen in Long Island City was met with only confused looks from the virtual hostess, despite a sign in the window advertising the drink.
“We don’t sell coffee,” she finally answered. “Maybe soon.”
Ismael Oquendo, a 34-year-old teacher from the Bronx, doesn’t really like this concept.
“If you’re a regular at a certain place and you go there all the time, you want to feel at home,” he told the Post.
“Not meeting someone on a personal level can affect everyone’s daily life,” he continued.
“Human interaction is much better than video.”
New York Post
