Cooks, Restaurant
Food Preparation and Serving Related · SOC 35-2014
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 35-2014 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
- SOC exposure
- 1.2%
- Medium · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 45/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $37,390
- H-1B offered wage $42,349; LCAs are filings.
- Projected openings
- 243,800
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +14.9%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- 14
- FY2025 certified LCAs; 323,287 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
- H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
- Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
- Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
- This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.
Best transitions from here
Explore all pathways→Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).
AI Exposure Analysis
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
Top Skills
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.
Common titles: Back Line Cook, Banquet Cook, Breakfast Cook, Cook, Fry Cook, Grill Cook
Representative Tasks
- •Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
- •Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
- •Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- •Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- •Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Assess equipment functioning.
- •Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.
- •Inspect facilities, equipment or supplies to ensure conformance to standards.
- •Arrange food for serving.
- •Serve food or beverages.
Tools & Technologies
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
Employment & Wage Trend
BLS OEWS, 2019–2025
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 1.2% | 0.9% |
| Outlook | Bright ↗ | 60% Bright |
| Median Salary | $37,390 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 99/100 | N/A |