Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Cooks, Fast Food and Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”
At a glance
| Dimension | Cooks, Fast Food | Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $30,160 | $36,450 |
| Employment | 668,230 | 448,260 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | Declining (-13.5%) | About average (+2.0%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 82,100 | 69,700 |
| Typical education · O*NET | Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. | Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. |
| AI exposure · published exposure studies | Moderate · 65th pct | Low · 19th pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | 29th pct · 18% of tasks | 29th pct · 18% of tasks |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | Augmentation-leaning (45.8%) | — |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | No | No |
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.
Skills
Shared: Oral Comprehension, Administration and Management, Customer and Personal Service, Public Safety and Security, Information Ordering, Near Vision, English Language, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Speech Recognition, Written Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Selective Attention, Manual Dexterity, Trunk Strength, Speech Clarity, Speaking, Coordination, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Time Sharing, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Time Management, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Inductive Reasoning, Production and Processing.
Specific to Cooks, Fast Food
- Transportation
- Communications and Media
- Social Perceptiveness
- Economics and Accounting
- Stamina
- Sales and Marketing
- Written Expression
- Computers and Electronics
Specific to Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
- Food Production
- Mathematics
- Operations Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Category Flexibility
- Complex Problem Solving
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Visualization
Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).
Tools & technology
Shared: Spreadsheet software , Word processing software , Point of sale POS software .
Specific to Cooks, Fast Food
Specific to Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Cooks, Fast Food or Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.
More comparisons
Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Short Order
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Restaurant
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Food Preparation Workers
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Bakers
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Fast Food and Counter Workers
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Butchers and Meat Cutters
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
- Cooks, Fast Food vs Baristas
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/cooks-fast-food-vs-cooks-institution-and-cafeteria
Singulariki. (2026). Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/cooks-fast-food-vs-cooks-institution-and-cafeteria
@misc{singulariki-cooks-fast-food-vs-cooks-institution-and-cafeteria,
title = {Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/compare/cooks-fast-food-vs-cooks-institution-and-cafeteria}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.