Food Preparation and Serving · Holland code ECR

First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in preparing and serving food.

Also called: Dietary Supervisor, Food Service Supervisor, Kitchen Manager, Restaurant Manager, Cafeteria Manager, Dining Services Director, Food and Beverage Director, Food and Nutrition Services Supervisor.

O*NET 35-1012.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $44,080; Middle half earn $35,980 to $54,570. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 70% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Compile and balance cash receipts at the end of the day or shift.
Forecast staff, equipment, and supply requirements, based on a master menu.
Assess nutritional needs of patients, plan special menus, supervise the assembly of regular and special diet trays, and oversee the delivery of food trolleys to hospital patients.
Resolve customer complaints regarding food service.
Record production, operational, and personnel data on specified forms.
Perform personnel actions, such as hiring and firing staff, providing employee orientation and training, and conducting supervisory activities, such as creating work schedules or organizing employee time sheets.
Estimate ingredients and supplies required to prepare a recipe.
Train workers in food preparation, and in service, sanitation, and safety procedures.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.9 / 5
Active Listening3.8 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.3 / 5
Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
Learning Strategies3.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.1 / 5
Administration and Management3.6 / 5
Food Production3.5 / 5
English Language3.5 / 5
Production and Processing3.3 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.3 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic60
Investigative6
Artistic4
Social40
Enterprising89
Conventional62

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

restaurant manager · DE Restaurantmanager/Restaurantmanagerin · FR gérant de restaurant/gérante de restaurant
head sommelier · DE Chefsommelier/Chefsommelière · FR sommelier en chef /sommelière en chef
quick service restaurant team leader · DE Schnellrestaurantteamleiter/Schnellrestaurantteamleiterin · FR manager en restauration rapide/manageuse en restauration rapide

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors (1222)140,500 employed
Waiters and waitresses (9264)259,800 employed
Catering and bar managers (5436)75,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.26. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (35-1012).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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