AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 35-3023.00
Will AI replace Fast Food and Counter Workers?
Fast Food and Counter Workers: AI does not yet handle any of the role's 27 tasks; most of the work is hands-on, and the part AI can address mostly needs an efficient-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 27 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Fast Food and Counter Workers, from most to least exposed. None reaches 60, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan, prepare, and deliver meals to individuals with special dietary needs. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Perform personnel activities, such as supervising and training employees. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Balance receipts and payments in cash registers. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Distribute food to servers. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Brew coffee and tea, and fill containers with requested beverages. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Select food items from serving or storage areas and place them in dishes, on serving trays, or in take-out bags. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Clean and organize eating, service, and kitchen areas. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Prepare daily food items, and cook simple foods and beverages, such as sandwiches, salads, soups, pizza, or coffee, using proper safety precautions and sanitary measures. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Prepare and serve cold drinks, frozen milk drinks, or desserts, using drink-dispensing, milkshake, or frozen-custard machines. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Wrap menu items such as sandwiches, hot entrees, and desserts for serving or for takeout. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Notify kitchen personnel of shortages or special orders. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Take customers' orders and write ordered items on tickets, giving ticket stubs to customers when needed to identify filled orders. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Set up dining areas for meals, and clear them following meals. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Replenish foods at serving stations. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Collect and return dirty dishes to the kitchen for washing. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Arrange tables and decorations according to instructions. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Add relishes and garnishes to food orders, according to instructions. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Serve food, beverages, or desserts to customers in such settings as take-out counters of restaurants or lunchrooms, business or industrial establishments, hotel rooms, and cars. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Monitor and order supplies or food items, and restock as necessary to maintain inventory. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Wash dishes, glassware, and silverware after meals. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Deliver orders to kitchens, and pick up and serve food when it is ready. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 27 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 26 of 27. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 11% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 11% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 89% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 3,854,050
- Median annual wage
- $31,200
- Middle half of earners
- $27,700 to $36,070
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +6.1%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Food Preparation Workers 75% skill overlap, about 9 months to move Exposure16
- Cooks, Fast Food 73% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure21
- Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure16
- Waiters and Waitresses 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure20
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers 67% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure32
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Fast Food and Counter Workers and AI
Will AI replace Fast Food and Counter Workers?
Not on current evidence. None of the 27 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation reaches a task exposure of 60, the level at which JobRoute counts a task as handled by AI, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 17 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears.
What is the AI exposure of Fast Food and Counter Workers?
17 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 1 of the 27 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 26 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Fast Food and Counter Workers tasks can AI already do?
None reaches 60 yet. The most exposed task is: Plan, prepare, and deliver meals to individuals with special dietary needs, at 50 out of 100.
What AI model tier does this role need?
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 11% of the role's importance-weighted task work, and 89% is hands-on work that no model tier covers. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Fast Food and Counter Workers, and what do they earn?
3,854,050 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $31,200 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +6.1% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Fast Food and Counter Workers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/fast-food-and-counter-workers
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