Human costs are complex. I used to work in a company that made tape robots. One customer did the math, hiring humans to change tapes was cheaper than buying a robot. Then he walked in one night and saw the kids in hockey gear, take the needed tape off the shelf, slap shot it to the "goalie" who put it in the drive. Which is why he was a customer even though human labor is cheaper.

as someone who has worked his share of minimum-wage jobs, this seems obvious. Perhaps it's a case of academics in their ivory towers not having sufficient exposure to the real world? That kid hired for $8/hr doesn't care about the success of the business. Their concern ends when the shift changes.