Compare Occupations

	Fast Food and Counter Workers	Food Service Managers	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers	Food Preparation Workers	Counter and Rental Clerks	Baristas
SUMMARY	81% Imminent Risk	35% Low Risk	20% Minimal Risk	67% High Risk	74% High Risk	66% High Risk
JOB SCORE	3.2/10	6.5/10	5.2/10	2.2/10	2.8/10	4.0/10
POLLING	87% (Imminent Risk, Based on 224 votes)	38% (Low Risk, Based on 68 votes)	51% (Moderate Risk, Based on 17 votes)	70% (High Risk, Based on 66 votes)	86% (Imminent Risk, Based on 37 votes)	65% (High Risk, Based on 127 votes)
GROWTH by year 2034	6.1%	6.4%	6.0%	-3.4%	3.2%	6.1%
WAGES	$30,480 or $14.65 per hour	$65,310 or $31.40 per hour	$42,010 or $20.20 per hour	$34,220 or $16.45 per hour	$38,540 or $18.53 per hour	$30,480 or $14.65 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	3,780,930	244,230	1,187,460	888,770	398,620	3,780,930
SNOWFLAKE [?] The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
DESCRIPTION	Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages.	Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages.	Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in preparing and serving food.	Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.	Receive orders, generally in person, for repairs, rentals, and services. May describe available options, compute cost, and accept payment.	Prepare or serve specialty coffee or other beverages. Serve food such as baked goods or sandwiches to patrons.

Compare Occupations Side by Side

Curious how automation and AI could affect your career? Our comparison tool lets you view two or more jobs side by side, helping you quickly spot differences in risk level, pay, growth, and popularity. All of this is based on a mix of academic research, user polling, and official labour data.

Automation Risk

Each occupation shows a probability of automation. A higher score means machines and algorithms are more likely to take over the role in the future.

Job Score

A quick summary of how a job performs overall — factoring in wages, growth, volume, and automation risk. It’s a handy way to see the bigger picture at a glance.

Polling Data

Thousands of visitors cast their votes on how “automatable” each job feels. These community insights are shown alongside the calculated probabilities.

Growth & Wages

See how fast each occupation is projected to grow and what people earn on average. High wages don’t always mean high security — automation risk still matters.

Volume of Workers

Explore how many people currently work in each occupation and in which year the data was recorded. Popularity can affect how disruptive automation will be for the wider economy.

The Snowflake Diagram

Each snowflake visualises the balance between automation risk, wages, growth, and job volume. Bigger and greener areas mean stronger performance in that dimension.

Use this comparison page to research careers, guide students, or simply explore the future of work. All data is regularly updated to keep the results relevant.