Career Explorer Food and hospitality
Human edge, steady
Cooks, short order
Prepare and cook to order a variety of foods that require only a short preparation time. May take orders from customers and serve patrons at counters or tables.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 30% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by -5.2% by 2035, expected to shrink.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $35,880
- Job growth to 2035
- -5.2%
- Openings a year
- 17,400
- People doing it (2025)
- 139,000
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Prepare foods or beverages
- Execute financial transactions
- Purchase goods or services
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Stock supplies or products
- Replenish inventories of materials, equipment, or products
What the work looks like
- Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables.
- Grill and garnish hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops.
- Restock kitchen supplies, rotate food, and stamp the time and date on food in coolers.
- Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters.
- Plan work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as restaurants continue to prefer restaurant cooks over short order cooks due to a greater skill set.
- More of these jobs, as movie theaters increasingly expand concessions offerings and services to include meals, beverages, and full restaurant services.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Food preparation workersHuman edge, steady, Index 40, -3.0%
- DishwashersHuman edge, steady, Index 64, -1.0%
- Cooks, fast foodHuman edge, steady, Index 42, +0.6%
- Fast food and counter workersHuman edge, growing, Index 79, +5.8%
Also known as: Cook, Grill Cook, Line Cook, Short Order Cook, Broiler Cook, Deli Cook (Delicatessen Cook), Food and Beverage Attendant, Pizza Maker.
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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.