I work on the customer side at a retailer. The front end always replaced by machines. In fact we’ve never stopped hiring for cashiers.
I get so sick of the, “I should get a discount since I’m checking myself out.” you are, fool. If we increased the pay so much to actually get people in the store to be cashiers, your prices would skyrocket.
“I refuse to go to self checkout because I don’t want them to replace the cashiers” fine. Wait in line and stop complaining. It’s easier to station a few people covering 10 registers than 3 people to 3 registers.
For the record, I don’t make the budget. I’d hire at higher wages anyways. We pay relatively competitively for the area.