Who's on the clock?

Fast Food Cooks vs Fast Food and Counter Workers

Fast food cooks spend 2h 13m of a shift on tasks AI or robots touch; fast food and counter workers spend 58m. Here is how pay, outlook and training compare.

Time card for fast food cooks: 2h 13m of an 8-hour shift touched by AI or robotsTime card: Fast Food Cooks →

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Fast food cooks or fast food and counter workers: which will AI change more? AI and robots touch more of the day for fast food cooks: 2h 13m of an 8-hour shift, against 58m for fast food and counter workers. Median pay is about the same: $30,890 and $31,200.

The two jobs share very close skills, including service orientation, so moving between them is realistic for many people.

Fast Food Cooks
2h 13mof an 8-hour shift touched by AI or robots
  • 5h 47mDone by people
  • 0mPeople do it with AI's help
  • 0mAI mostly does it alone
  • 2h 13mRobots have done it somewhere
Median pay
$30,890
U.S. workers
641,000
Outlook to 2035
+0.6%
Openings a year
86,000
Typical preparation
Little or no preparation
See the full time card →
Fast Food and Counter Workers
58mof an 8-hour shift touched by AI or robotsLess AI time
  • 7h 2mDone by people
  • 0mPeople do it with AI's help
  • 0mAI mostly does it alone
  • 58mRobots have done it somewhere
Median pay
$31,200
U.S. workers
3.9 million
Outlook to 2035
+5.8%
Openings a year
827,000
Typical preparation
Little or no preparation
See the full time card →

Fast Food Cooks

Where AI or robots show up most

  • Operate large-volume cooking equipment, such as grills, deep-fat fryers, or griddles. 1h 14m
  • Cook and package batches of food, such as hamburgers or fried chicken, prepared to order or kept warm until sold. 33m
  • Serve orders to customers at windows, counters, or tables. 17m

Biggest tasks still done by people

  • Cook the exact number of items ordered by each customer, working on several different orders simultaneously. 1h 14m
  • Prepare specialty foods, such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, or tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time. 58m
  • Clean food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils. 41m

Fast Food and Counter Workers

Where AI or robots show up most

  • Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary. 38m
  • Balance receipts and payments in cash registers. 10m
  • Prepare and serve cold drinks, frozen milk drinks, or desserts, using drink-dispensing, milkshake, or frozen-custard machines. 10m

Biggest tasks still done by people

  • 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. 1h 7m
  • Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper. 48m
  • Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints. 29m

Swap in a different job Highlighted numbers are the higher of the two. Hours are estimates from each job's time card.