AI Career Radar

Fast Food and Counter Workers

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.

AI exposure41 / 100Moderate exposure

Based on O*NET work context for this occupation. This score does not predict individual job losses.

What drives the score

Automation and repetition raise exposure; freedom to set tasks lowers it. Each measure uses a 0–100 scale.

Degree of automation36
Freedom to set tasks81
Repeating the same tasks71
$31,200Median annual wage, U.S.BLS OEWS
+5.8%Jobs, 2025 to 2035 (faster than average)BLS Employment Projections
33Skill durability (fragile)Transferability, out of 100

How well your skills transfer

Each skill is scored on how well it transfers into occupations that are growing and less exposed. The ones high on both importance and transfer are worth deepening.

Highest transferability first

Both scores out of 100

Skills ranked by transferability. Both scores use a 0–100 scale.
SkillTransferabilityImportance in current role
Active Listening
63
50
Monitoring
63
47
Speaking
63
41
Critical Thinking
63
38
Judgment and Decision Making
63
35
Coordination
62
50
Active Learning
62
22
Complex Problem Solving
62
22
Reading Comprehension
61
35
Time Management
61
35
Show 25 more skills
Skills ranked by transferability. Both scores use a 0–100 scale.
SkillTransferabilityImportance in current role
Social Perceptiveness
60
50
Writing
60
25
Learning Strategies
58
25
Instructing
58
25
Systems Analysis
57
25
Service Orientation
56
50
Systems Evaluation
56
22
Persuasion
54
25
Mathematics
53
25
Negotiation
52
22
Science
52
0
Management of Personnel Resources
50
25
Operations Analysis
49
0
Installation
48
0
Management of Material Resources
47
19
Quality Control Analysis
47
16
Troubleshooting
47
13
Management of Financial Resources
47
13
Technology Design
47
6
Equipment Selection
47
0
Equipment Maintenance
47
0
Operations Monitoring
46
25
Repairing
46
0
Programming
45
3
Operation and Control
43
16

Compare how well you can use each skill in growing, low-exposure occupations with its importance in your current role. How we score skills.

Jobs you could move to

Compare related occupations by skill overlap, retraining effort, pay and projected growth. Choose a priority to adjust the ranking. Licensing requirements may limit some routes.

#1ModelsSales & Service
78/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$48,470
10-yr growth
-2.1%
Skill gap
6%
Retraining
Low
#2Massage TherapistsHealthcare Support
76/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$58,450
10-yr growth
+15.3%
Skill gap
24%
Retraining
Moderate

Skills to build: Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Judgment and Decision Making

75/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$60,550
10-yr growth
-0.3%
Skill gap
14%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Critical Thinking, Speaking

#4PaperhangersSkilled Trades
75/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$52,140
10-yr growth
+4.3%
Skill gap
18%
Retraining
Moderate

Skills to build: Speaking

75/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$53,140
10-yr growth
+36.5%
Skill gap
46%
Retraining
High

Skills to build: Installation, Troubleshooting, Quality Control Analysis, Active Learning

74/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$45,570
10-yr growth
+21.4%
Skill gap
33%
Retraining
Moderate

Skills to build: Writing, Active Learning, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening

A second source of income, before you need it

This page can tell you where Fast Food and Counter Workers could go and what the move costs. The other route is not a move at all: something small of your own, running alongside the job, started while there is no pressure on it.

Where to learn the missing half: Google Career Certificates for systems analysis · active learning, LinkedIn Learning for writing · speaking, edX for mathematics · reading and PlanetNoCode for complex problem solving. Some of those are affiliate links. It never changes what we list.

Snapshot: O*NET 31.0, BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035. Scoring v2.1.0-onet-31.0. Method on the how it works page.