Tech and business publications routinely chat up the advantages of transitioning away from human workers and into smart machines, but it’s less often that the mainstream press emphasizes the cost saving of companies switching to robots.

It’s interesting then to see a recent edition of the Los Angeles Times cites the savings to be had by replacing restaurant employees with automation — thousands of dollars per month, we read. Flippy the burger robot now is “costing less to employ than a minimum-wage worker.” What business manager wouldn’t take that opportunity?

The robot burger flipper doesn’t mind working the grill 24/7 with no breaks.

So does it make sense for America to continue immigrating millions of low-skilled workers from abroad?

It seems unwise when the builders of technology hope to produce the next big machine, like the Kiva Systems robot company which was bought by Amazon owner Jeff Bezos for $775 million in 2012. The incentives are very enticing for techies around the world to push ahead with robot design.