Chefs and Head Cooks
Direct and may participate in the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foods. May plan and price menu items, order supplies, and keep records and accounts.
200,040 people do this job in the US. $62,470 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 21%
- 11%
- 68%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 12%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 21 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan, direct, or supervise food preparation or cooking activities of multiple kitchens or restaurants in an establishment such as a restaurant chain, hospital, or hotel.Done daily by most who do it. | 20% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 16% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Coordinate planning, budgeting, or purchasing for all the food operations within establishments such as clubs, hotels, or restaurant chains.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 9%Half by Aug 2027 | |
| Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Prepare and cook foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or functions.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine how food should be presented and create decorative food displays.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine production schedules and staff requirements necessary to ensure timely delivery of services.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Recruit and hire staff, such as cooks and other kitchen workers.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Collaborate with other personnel to plan and develop recipes or menus, taking into account such factors as seasonal availability of ingredients or the likely number of customers.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect supplies, equipment, or work areas to ensure conformance to established standards.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Analyze recipes to assign prices to menu items, based on food, labor, and overhead costs.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | 80%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).