Waiters and Waitresses vs Cooks, Short Order AI Risk

Job 1

Job 2

Job 1

Job 2

medium risk

Waiters and Waitresses

44 shared · 7 different

core competencies

medium risk

Cooks, Short Order

Side-by-Side Comparison

Waiters and Waitresses leads 2–1

Metric	Waiters and Waitresses	Cooks, Short Order
Risk Score	33.8%	33.8%
Risk Tier	Medium Risk	Medium Risk
Risk Percentile	61th	61th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)	5 / 15	5 / 11
Median Salary	$33,760	$35,620
Employment	2.3M	150K

Skill Comparison

Sorted by largest difference

Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships

Production and Processing

Customer and Personal Service

Performing for or Working Directly with the Public

Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Sales and Marketing

Processing Information

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Waiters and Waitresses

28%

total discount

Cooks, Short Order

27%

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, Short Order

5 of 11 at risk

88%Accept payments, and make change or write charge slips as necessary.

75%Order supplies and stock them on shelves.

74%Plan work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time.

53%Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters.

51%Perform food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing coffee or tea.

Wage Comparison

Cooks, Short Order earns +$1,860(+6%) vs Waiters and Waitresses

Waiters and WaitressesCooks, Short Order

10th

$18,500$23,770

25th

$25,690$30,160

Median

$33,760$35,620

75th

$45,350$39,990

90th

$62,510$46,010

Premium Head-to-Head Analysis

Displacement Timeline Comparison

Waiters and Waitresses2028–2035

Cooks, Short Order2028–2035

20242030203520402045

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

Risk-Adjusted Salary

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

Waiters and Waitresses

$22,363

from $33,760

Cooks, Short Order

$23,584

from $35,620

After adjusting for AI risk, Cooks, Short Order offers $1,221 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, Short Order

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