The problems with human employees are the obvious ones – they need to eat, sleep and take various other bio-breaks, and their rights to do so are unfortunately protected by law. Well, if you’re paying by the hour, why not get real value for money? Japanese businesses can now rent robotic receptionists at an hourly rate which, at $445 for sixty minutes, isn’t going to scale to well for a while yet. But give it few years, factor in employee insurance and benefits, and the pink slips will start flying …