Career Explorer Food and hospitality
Human edge, steady
Waiters and waitresses
Take orders and serve food and beverages to patrons at tables in dining establishment.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 50% 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 +2.0% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on emotional intelligence.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $35,230
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.0%
- Openings a year
- 423,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 2.3 million
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Provide information to guests, clients, or customers
- Execute financial transactions
- Prepare foods or beverages
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Provide food or beverage services
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Stock supplies or products
What the work looks like
- Collect payments from customers.
- Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
- Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
- Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals, and take action to correct any problems.
- Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as adoption of technologies enables more self-service, including online ordering and payments, and will allow waiters and waitresses to serve more customers.
- More of these jobs, as movie theaters increasingly add partial or full restaurant services to existing traditional concessions to encourage attendance.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpersHuman edge, growing, Index 96, +5.3%
- Food preparation and serving related workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 78, +5.5%
- Cooks, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 77, +5.2%
- Food servers, nonrestaurantHuman edge, growing, Index 76, +4.5%
Also known as: Food Server, Server, Waiter, Waitress, Banquet Server, Busser, Cocktail Server, Food Runner.
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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.