Career Explorer Food and hospitality
Human edge, steady
Food preparation workers
Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 40% 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 -3.0% 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)
- $35,320
- Job growth to 2035
- -3.0%
- Openings a year
- 136,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 908,000
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Prepare foods or beverages
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
- Provide information to guests, clients, or customers
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Stock supplies or products
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects
What the work looks like
- Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
- Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items.
- Distribute food to waiters and waitresses to serve to customers.
- Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers.
- Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as food service is outsourced.
- Fewer of these jobs, as schools continue to outsource food preparation.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Cooks, fast foodHuman edge, steady, Index 42, +0.6%
- DishwashersHuman edge, steady, Index 64, -1.0%
- Packers and packagers, handHuman edge, steady, Index 51, -5.0%
- Fast food and counter workersHuman edge, growing, Index 79, +5.8%
Also known as: Cook, Deli Clerk (Delicatessen Clerk), Dietary Aide, Food Service Worker (FSW), Cook Aide, Diet Aide, Food Prep (Food Preparer), Food Service Aide.
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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.