Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
Serve food to individuals outside of a restaurant environment, such as in hotel rooms, hospital rooms, residential care facilities, or cars.
293,900 people do this job in the US. $35,360 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 10%
- 0%
- 90%
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, 8%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 10%.
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 . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean or sterilize dishes, kitchen utensils, equipment, or facilities.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 13 min7 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Monitor food preparation or serving techniques to ensure that proper procedures are followed.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 13 min4 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Monitor food distribution, ensuring that meals are delivered to the correct recipients and that guidelines, such as those for special diets, are followed.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 11% | 10 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Stock service stations with items, such as ice, napkins, or straws.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Prepare food items, such as sandwiches, salads, soups, or beverages.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 8% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove trays and stack dishes for return to kitchen after meals are finished.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Take food orders and relay orders to kitchens or serving counters so they can be filled.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Place food servings on plates or trays according to orders or instructions.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 6% | 4 min3 min to 8 min | Stays with people | |
| Carry food, silverware, or linen on trays or use carts to carry trays.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 5 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Load trays with accessories, such as eating utensils, napkins, or condiments.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 4 min2 min to 8 min | Stays with people | |
| Determine where patients or patrons would like to eat their meals and help them get situated.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Record amounts and types of special food items served to customers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 4 min2 min to 10 min | 100%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).