Food Preparation and Serving · Holland code RCS

Food Preparation Workers

Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.

Also called: Cook, Deli Clerk (Delicatessen Clerk), Dietary Aide, Food Service Worker (FSW), Cook Aide, Diet Aide, Food Prep (Food Preparer), Food Service Aide.

O*NET 35-2021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $35,320; Middle half earn $29,950 to $38,550. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 69% 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.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: -3% · Decline; 902,700 jobs in 2024, projected 871,800. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Food preparation workers".

What the work involves

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

Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items.
Distribute food to waiters and waitresses to serve to customers.
Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers.
Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas.
Remove trash and clean kitchen garbage containers.
Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage.
Weigh or measure ingredients.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking2.9 / 5
Critical Thinking2.8 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.6 / 5
Monitoring2.5 / 5
Mathematics2.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service3.3 / 5
Food Production2.9 / 5
Production and Processing2.7 / 5
English Language2.4 / 5
Administration and Management2.3 / 5
Psychology1.8 / 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.

Realistic90
Investigative6
Artistic15
Social28
Enterprising21
Conventional53

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)

kitchen assistant · DE Küchenhilfe · FR aide-cuisinier/aide-cuisinière

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Kitchen and catering assistants (9263)424,300 employed
Bar and catering supervisors (9261)64,800 employed
Sales and retail assistants (7111)831,800 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 “Elementary occupations”. 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, Elementary occupations, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€29,579
Sweden	€28,305
Austria	€27,215
Netherlands	€24,577
Ireland	€24,331
Germany	€22,430
Italy	€22,101
France	€21,664
Spain	€17,502
Portugal	€9,424
Poland	€7,534

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 lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.23. 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 (35-2021).

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.

Take the career interests test