Well kinda… McDonald’s Hawaii has launched a new program that utilizes ‘remote order takers’ at its drive-thru windows. However traditional outsourcing is not quite taking place. Instead of India taking your orders when you pull up at your favorite Hawaii McDonald’s you will hear a Texan on the other end of the line.

McDonald’s Hawaii will be taking your order via a call center in El Paso, Texas. The program entered its test phase back in 2007 and has now been implemented nearly state wide, excluding only 19 restaurant locations.

Having lived in Hawaii myself I find it odd that Texans, with a traditional southern-Texas accent and no knowledge of Hawaii, the Hawaiian accent, pidgin language, or local vernacular are able to take the unique Hawaiian orders accurately and efficiently. However, according to Melanie Okazaki of McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawaii individuals taking orders are trained in ‘Hawaii speak.’ She states:

Sometimes people throw in a little bit of pidgin here and there and so we want our order-takers to become accustomed and comfortable with that. It takes a little getting used to on the order-taker’s side, but I think with practice, they become more and more comfortable working with our local clientèle.

Interestingly enough McDonald’s Hawaii reports that this new practice saves them no money. In fact they are having to pay the call receivers, and are maintaining the labor force at current levels in McDonald’s restaurants. So, instead of simply hiring more locals to take orders in Hawaii to increase job availability in the Hawaii economy, they are hiring out of state, saving no money, and not really offering any valuable improvements to the consumer experience.

Okazaki states:

We want to make sure that our customers get their orders right and they get them in the most convenient way possible

Is the most convenient possible way to get orders right to hire a group of Texans, teach them a new vocabulary, an altered McDonald’s menu, a new accent to understand, and a new language so they can interpret pidgin? Or is it easier, cheaper, and better for Hawaii consumers to simply hire additional locals that do not require additional language/menu/vernacular training to simply man headsets and computers to input orders? I simply fail to see how this new service truly helps consumers. Would it not be better for Hawaii’s consumers, economy, and Macdonald’s Hawaii as a whole to hire locally to create jobs, save money, and pass those savings to the consumer?