Food Service Managers vs Fast Food and Counter Workers
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Food Service Managers and Fast Food and Counter Workers 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 | Food Service Managers | Fast Food and Counter Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $65,310 | $30,480 |
| Employment | 244,230 | 3,780,930 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | About average (+6.4%) | About average (+6.1%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 42,000 | 904,300 |
| 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 | Low · 27th pct | Moderate · 56th pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | 67th pct · 36% of tasks | — |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | Automation-leaning (45.7%) | — |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | 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: Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management, Food Production, Active Listening, Speaking, Monitoring, Coordination, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, Speech Clarity, Critical Thinking, Social Perceptiveness, English Language, Time Management, Personnel and Human Resources, Sales and Marketing, Mathematics, Administrative, Production and Processing, Education and Training, Judgment and Decision Making, Selective Attention, Near Vision, Speech Recognition, Economics and Accounting.
Specific to Food Service Managers
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Written Comprehension
- Active Learning
- Learning Strategies
- Negotiation
- Instructing
- Writing
- Persuasion
Specific to Fast Food and Counter Workers
- Time Sharing
- Trunk Strength
- Information Ordering
- Manual Dexterity
- Computers and Electronics
- Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Far Vision
- Auditory Attention
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: Office suite software , Web page creation and editing software , Spreadsheet software , Point of sale POS software , Data base user interface and query software .
Specific to Food Service Managers
Specific to Fast Food and Counter Workers
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Food Service Managers or Fast Food and Counter Workers — 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.
- Food Service Managers vs Chefs and Head Cooks
- Food Service Managers vs First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
- Food Service Managers vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
- Food Service Managers vs Cooks, Restaurant
- Food Service Managers vs Cooks, Private Household
- Food Service Managers vs Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
- Food Service Managers vs Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
- Food Service Managers vs First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
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. "Food Service Managers vs Fast Food and Counter Workers." 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/food-service-managers-vs-fast-food-and-counter-workers
Singulariki. (2026). Food Service Managers vs Fast Food and Counter Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/food-service-managers-vs-fast-food-and-counter-workers
@misc{singulariki-food-service-managers-vs-fast-food-and-counter-workers,
title = {Food Service Managers vs Fast Food and Counter Workers},
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/food-service-managers-vs-fast-food-and-counter-workers}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.