Tokyo, Japan: Henn-na Hotel fires its robot staff

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This was published 5 years ago

Tokyo, Japan: Henn-na Hotel fires its robot staff

Updated
Android check-in staff at Henn-na Hotel in Tokyo.

Android check-in staff at Henn-na Hotel in Tokyo.

It seems robot domination in the workforce won't be happening anytime soon.

A Japanese hotel - known for its predominantly droid staff - recently fired half of its robot workers.

Henn-na Hotel was the world's first hotel to be run mostly by robots with 243 'employees' on the payroll.

The robots, some of which were dinosaurs, were responsible for every aspect of the hotel including check-in, luggage collection, concierge, and in-room assistance.

Unfortunately, malfunctions forced the hotel to rethink its staffing approach. Hotel guests were becoming more reliant on human staff to help with basic tasks such as photocopying passports.

One hotel guest had trouble with the in-room assistance when it mistook his snoring for a request. The robot woke him up by asking, "Sorry, I couldn't catch that. Could you repeat your request?", the Wall Street Journal reported.

Other guests complained the concierge wasn't all that helpful with their iPhone assistant Siri finding information in just seconds.

The reception, concierge and bell hop duties will now all be completed by human employees, putting an end to the hotel's robotic dream, only three years after powering up.

It is unknown whether the robot employees received severance packages.

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