Waiters and Waitresses vs Cooks, Fast Food AI Risk

Job 1

Job 2

Job 1

Job 2

medium risk

Waiters and Waitresses

42 shared · 6 different

core competencies

medium risk

Cooks, Fast Food

Side-by-Side Comparison

Waiters and Waitresses leads 5–0

Metric	Waiters and Waitresses	Cooks, Fast Food
Risk Score	33.8%	46.3%
Risk Tier	Medium Risk	Medium Risk
Risk Percentile	61th	93th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)	5 / 15	12 / 15
Median Salary	$33,760	$30,160
Employment	2.3M	668K

Skill Comparison

Sorted by largest difference

Customer and Personal Service

Getting Information

Communicating with Persons Outside Organization

English Language

Training and Teaching Others

Service OrientationAI-Resistant

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Waiters and Waitresses

28%

total discount

Cooks, Fast Food

23%

total discount

Task Risk Comparison

Tasks sorted by AI automation risk — higher means more automatable

Waiters and Waitresses

5 of 15 at risk

89%Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.

87%Collect payments from customers.

87%Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.

85%Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.

51%Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom.

Cooks, Fast Food

12 of 15 at risk

88%Take food and drink orders and receive payment from customers.

76%Verify that prepared food meets requirements for quality and quantity.

75%Read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions.

61%Prepare and serve beverages, such as coffee or fountain drinks.

59%Prepare specialty foods, such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, or tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time.

Wage Comparison

Cooks, Fast Food earns -$3,600(-11%) vs Waiters and Waitresses

Waiters and WaitressesCooks, Fast Food

10th

$18,500$22,370

25th

$25,690$26,540

Median

$33,760$30,160

75th

$45,350$35,710

90th

$62,510$38,980

Premium Head-to-Head Analysis

Displacement Timeline Comparison

Waiters and Waitresses2028–2035

Cooks, Fast Food2028–2035

20242030203520402045

Waiters and Waitresses has a longer runway before significant displacement, projected 0 years later than Cooks, Fast Food.

Risk-Adjusted Salary

Salary weighted by displacement risk: salary × (1 − risk%)

Waiters and Waitresses

$22,363

from $33,760

Cooks, Fast Food

$16,211

from $30,160

After adjusting for AI risk, Waiters and Waitresses offers $6,152 more in risk-adjusted pay.

Transition Feasibility

Skill Overlap

Low overlap — significant retraining needed for transition

Unique to Waiters

Unique to Cooks,

Combined Protection Strategy

Regardless of which path you choose, focus on these protective factors

Social Intelligence

Creativity

Fine Manipulation

Regulatory Barriers

Waiters and WaitressesCooks, Fast Food

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