The Effect of Service Robots and Other Technology on Job Profiles in The Hospitality Industry

The adoption of service robots has reshaped the hotel industry. Fueled by the prevailing manpower crunch and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the industry was propelled to integrate technology into their operations and service robots were introduced as a complement to the human workforce. Even though the perceptions and impacts of service robots have been widely discussed, research pertaining to the impact of service robots from a human resource perspective is currently lacking in the literature. This qualitative study explores service robots in relation to the effect that this technology has on job profiles within the hotel industry, through semi-structured interviews with industry experts and academics. The key findings highlight that the acceptance of this technology is dependent on the tier of the hotel and the resistance arising from the cost and the technological disruption to the hotel. Moreover, job redesign was also found to be an effective strategy to complement the adoption of service robots. Finally, it was found that there is an impact on the level of service expectations from the guests as well as the productivity and efficiency of the staff upon the integration of service robots.