# 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.

- **SOC code:** 35-2021.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2021-00
- **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
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- 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.
- Remove trash and clean kitchen garbage containers.
- Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage.
- Weigh or measure ingredients.
- Operate cash register, handle money, and give correct change.
- Vacuum dining area and sweep and mop kitchen floor.
- Inform supervisors when equipment is not working properly and when food and supplies are getting low, and order needed items.
- Prepare a variety of foods, such as meats, vegetables, or desserts, according to customers' orders or supervisors' instructions, following approved procedures.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Check and log refrigerator, freezer, and cooler temperatures.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Service Orientation _(transferable_skill)_
- Time Management _(transferable_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Trunk Strength _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Food Production _(knowledge)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Coordination _(transferable_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- 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)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Barrington Software CookenPro Commercial
- CBORD Foodservice Suite
- CBORD NetRecipe
- Culinary Software Services ChefTec
- EGS CALCMENU
- iPro
- Master Cook Deluxe Professional Cook
- Mealmaster Cookbook Wizard
- MicroBlast Recipe Wizard for Windows
- Quizlet

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 17th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 9th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 8th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 44th percentile (Moderate) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 74th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -3.4% growth (Declining); 148k annual openings; 902.7k → 871.8k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $34,220; 888,770 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 20% automation, 55% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** learning.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage. _(1.0% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Receive and store food supplies, equipment, and utensils in refrigerators, cupboards, and other storage areas. _(0.3% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage.
- Help me receive and store food supplies, equipment, and utensils in refrigerators, cupboards, and other storage areas.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2021-00_