Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

Highest risk Lowest scored
Imminent Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
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Pays better More jobs
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Why it fits

Fits experienced operators who coordinate crews, output, sanitation, and shift procedures.

Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
43% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Pays better
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Why it fits

Builds on pressure cooker, kettle, and boiler awareness with added plant operations licensing.

Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders
69% automation risk | High Risk
Pays better Higher growth
12.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses experience tending heated vessels and process temperatures in related production settings.

Food Science Technicians
52% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Pays better Higher growth
30 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses food processing knowledge in quality testing or product development with added lab training.

Food Batchmakers
75% automation risk | High Risk
Higher growth More jobs
6.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Directly reuses food production equipment, ingredient handling, and batch process controls.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
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.
JOB SCORE
1.4/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

82% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): This occupation appears highly exposed to end-to-end replacement by AI, software, robotics, or other computer-controlled systems. Roles in this range often involve predictable, repeatable, or rules-based work with limited need for human judgement, trust, creativity, or adaptation to messy real-world conditions. This does not mean every job will disappear immediately, but it is a strong signal to consider safer alternatives or start building more resilient skills.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Education and training expertise

Quite important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 28 votes

78% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 82% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders was $40,550 ($19 per hour).

The median annual wage for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders was 18.1% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders' job openings is expected to rise 0.6% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 27,660 people employed as 'Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 5 thousand people are employed as 'Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders'.

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Job description

Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.

O*NET-SOC code: 51-3093.00