Career Explorer Food and hospitality
Human edge, growing
Cooks, restaurant
Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 78% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is moderate (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by +12.1% by 2035, much faster than average.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $37,390
- Job growth to 2035
- +12.1%
- Openings a year
- 219,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 1.4 million
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Prepare foods or beverages
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Inspect completed work or finished products
- Inspect facilities or equipment
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
What the work looks like
- Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
- Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as consumers demand more high-quality food options.
- Fewer of these jobs, as fitness consumers choose to get their food from sources outside of the gym café.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tilesHuman edge, growing, Index 92, +9.0%
- Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetationHuman edge, growing, Index 82, +3.9%
- Food batchmakersHuman edge, growing, Index 85, +6.5%
- Agricultural workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 83, +3.8%
Also known as: Banquet Cook, Grill Cook, Line Cook, Prep Cook (Preparation Cook), Back Line Cook, Breakfast Cook, Cook, Fry Cook.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.