Food Preparation Workers

AI & job outlook

What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.

Exposure to current AI

Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.0), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.1). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.

This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.

Mixed signals. Today's AI/LLM studies show relatively low exposure for this job, but the older (2013) Frey–Osborne work rated it higher for computerization and robotics. Different eras, different technologies — the AI measures above reflect the current state.

How AI is actually used in this job

Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.

Job outlook

Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.

“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.

Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient

The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.

Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.

Working with AI in this job

How people actually apply AI to this occupation's tasks, from Claude.ai (Free and Pro) conversations in the Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15. This is one AI assistant's consumer sample — not all AI, not the whole workforce. Autonomy and the collaboration mix are model-rated estimates; figures below the sample floor are hidden.

What people delegate to AI

The role's most common tasks in AI conversations, each tagged with how people work with the AI on it. “Usage” is the share of observed conversations, not of the job.

Where a human is still needed

Tasks where the model most often judged that a person remained necessary — a useful read on the current boundary, not a guarantee.

What people most often hand AI here

Example prompts phrased from the tasks people most often delegate to AI in this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index). Each shows the underlying measured task and its share of observed AI use. They are suggested phrasings of real tasks — starting points, not endorsed instructions.

• Help me store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage.

  From: Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage. · 1.0% of measured AI use · learning

• Help me receive and store food supplies, equipment, and utensils in refrigerators, cupboards, and other storage areas.

  From: Receive and store food supplies, equipment, and utensils in refrigerators, cupboards, and other storage areas. · 0.3% of measured AI use · learning

Tasks

All 31 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

• Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware. Core · importance 4.7
• Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items. Core · importance 4.6
• Distribute food to waiters and waitresses to serve to customers. Core · importance 4.6
• Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers. Core · importance 4.5
• Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas. Core · importance 4.5
• Remove trash and clean kitchen garbage containers. Core · importance 4.4
• Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage. Core · importance 4.4
• Weigh or measure ingredients. Core · importance 4.4
• Operate cash register, handle money, and give correct change. Supplemental · importance 4.4
• Vacuum dining area and sweep and mop kitchen floor. Supplemental · importance 4.3
• Inform supervisors when equipment is not working properly and when food and supplies are getting low, and order needed items. Core · importance 4.3
• Prepare a variety of foods, such as meats, vegetables, or desserts, according to customers' orders or supervisors' instructions, following approved procedures. Core · importance 4.3
• Wash, peel, and cut various foods, such as fruits and vegetables, to prepare for cooking or serving. Core · importance 4.3
• Distribute menus to hospital patients, collect diet sheets, and deliver food trays and snacks to nursing units or directly to patients. Supplemental · importance 4.3
• Package take-out foods or serve food to customers. Core · importance 4.2
• Assemble meal trays with foods in accordance with patients' diets. Supplemental · importance 4.2
• Stock cupboards and refrigerators, and tend salad bars and buffet meals. Core · importance 4.2
• Use manual or electric appliances to clean, peel, slice, and trim foods. Core · importance 4.2
• Load dishes, glasses, and tableware into dishwashing machines. Core · importance 4.2
• Portion and wrap food, or place it directly on plates for service to patrons. Core · importance 4.1
• Cut, slice or grind meat, poultry, and seafood to prepare for cooking. Core · importance 4.1
• Add cutlery, napkins, food, and other items to trays on assembly lines in hospitals, cafeterias, airline kitchens, and similar establishments. Core · importance 4.1
• Butcher and clean fowl, fish, poultry, and shellfish to prepare for cooking or serving. Supplemental · importance 4.1
• Place food trays over food warmers for immediate service, or store them in refrigerated storage cabinets. Core · importance 4.1
• Prepare and serve a variety of beverages, such as coffee, tea, and soft drinks. Supplemental · importance 4.0
• Mix ingredients for green salads, molded fruit salads, vegetable salads, and pasta salads. Core · importance 4.0
• Receive and store food supplies, equipment, and utensils in refrigerators, cupboards, and other storage areas. Core · importance 4.0
• Stir and strain soups and sauces. Supplemental · importance 4.0
• Keep records of the quantities of food used. Supplemental · importance 4.0
• Make special dressings and sauces as condiments for sandwiches. Core · importance 3.9
• Scrape leftovers from dishes into garbage containers. Core · importance 3.7

Emerging tasks

Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.

• Check and log refrigerator, freezer, and cooler temperatures.

Work activities

• Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.
• Clean tableware.
• Cook foods.
• Assess equipment functioning.
• Prepare foods for cooking or serving.
• Report information to managers or other personnel.
• Operate cash registers.
• Process customer bills or payments.
• Clean food service areas.
• Arrange food for serving.
• Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas.
• Serve food or beverages.
• Package food or supplies.
• Measure ingredients.
• Assist chefs or caterers with food or drink preparation.
• Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies.
• Remove trash.
• Prepare hot or cold beverages.
• Move equipment, supplies or food to required locations.
• Cut cooked or raw foods.
• Distribute resources to patrons or employees.
• Record operational or production data.
• Mix ingredients.
• Present food or beverage information or menus to customers.

Knowledge, skills & abilities

O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).

Knowledge

Essential skills

Transferable skills

Abilities

Skills in demand

Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.

• Time Management Common Skill
• Microsoft Excel Common Skill
• Active Listening Common Skill
• Speech Recognition Specialized Skill
• Finger Dexterity Common Skill
• Information Ordering Specialized Skill
• Critical Thinking Common Skill
• Social Perceptiveness Common Skill
• Reading Comprehension Common Skill
• Deductive Reasoning Common Skill
• Inductive Reasoning Common Skill
• English Language Common Skill
• Visualization Specialized Skill
• Systems Analysis Specialized Skill
• Mathematics Common Skill
• Learning Strategies Specialized Skill
• Instructing Specialized Skill
• Depth Perception Common Skill
• Complex Problem Solving Common Skill
• Active Learning Common Skill
• Writing Common Skill
• Negotiation Common Skill
• Psychology Specialized Skill
• Chemistry Specialized Skill
• Foreign Language Common Skill
• Physics Specialized Skill
• Telecommunications Specialized Skill
• Biology Specialized Skill
• Geography Specialized Skill
• Equipment Selection Specialized Skill
• Installation Specialized Skill
• Equipment Maintenance Specialized Skill

Tools & technology

Work context

How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.

How to get in

Job zone

Zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed

Education

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Typical entry-level education

No formal educational credential · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement

Related experience

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Preparation level

SVP (Below 6.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.

Education of current workers

Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Interest areas

Work styles

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

Industries that employ this occupation

Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.

Where this work is most concentrated

Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).

Related occupations

Part of the Hospitality, Events, & Tourism career cluster.

• Cooks, Restaurant · 35-2014.00 Compare →
• Cooks, Short Order · 35-2015.00 Compare →
• Fast Food and Counter Workers · 35-3023.00 Compare →
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria · 35-2012.00 Compare →
• Butchers and Meat Cutters · 51-3021.00 Compare →
• Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers · 35-9011.00 Compare →
• Bakers · 51-3011.00 Compare →
• Food Servers, Nonrestaurant · 35-3041.00 Compare →
• Cooks, Fast Food · 35-2011.00 Compare →
• Baristas · 35-3023.01 Compare →
• Chefs and Head Cooks · 35-1011.00 Compare →
• Cooks, Private Household · 35-2013.00 Compare →

Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.

What you can do with this

Options the data surfaces for Food Preparation Workers — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.

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.

@misc{singulariki-role-35-2021-00,
  title  = {Food Preparation 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/roles/role-35-2021-00}
}