Waiters and waitresses
Waiters and waitresses serve food and beverages in hotels, clubs, restaurants public houses and other establishments.
- Employees (UK)
- 146k
- Median annual pay
- £10,000
- Exposure score ?
- 0.8/10 Minimal 2.4/10 Low strict reading, with tools is 2.4/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.8/10
- Wage exposure
- £117m £350m
Higher exposure than 48% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
A few tasks in this role are within reach of AI, mostly paperwork, scheduling and routine writing. The shape of the role stays the same, and some parts get faster.
If you are in this role
Pick the two or three most repetitive things in your week and try a model on them. Most people underestimate what Claude or ChatGPT already does with admin-shaped work. The time you get back is the gain.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Collect payments from customers.
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Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
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Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
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Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.
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Present menus to patrons and answer questions about menu items, making recommendations upon request.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Waiters and Waitresses" (35-3031.00).
What AI can already do
2 of 25 tasks, unaided
Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
Explain how various menu items are prepared, describing ingredients and cooking methods.
What still needs a person
23 of 25 tasks
Collect payments from customers.
Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals, and take action to correct any problems.
Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.
Remove dishes and glasses from tables or counters, and take them to kitchen for cleaning.
Clean tables or counters after patrons have finished dining.
Serve food or beverages to patrons, and prepare or serve specialty dishes at tables as required.
Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom.
Present menus to patrons and answer questions about menu items, making recommendations upon request.
Prepare tables for meals, including setting up items such as linens, silverware, and glassware.
Stock service areas with supplies such as coffee, food, tableware, and linens.
Roll silverware, set up food stations, or set up dining areas to prepare for the next shift or for large parties.
Inform customers of daily specials.
Assist host or hostess by answering phones to take reservations or to-go orders, and by greeting, seating, and thanking guests.
Fill salt, pepper, sugar, cream, condiment, and napkin containers.
Garnish and decorate dishes in preparation for serving.
Perform food preparation duties, such as preparing salads, appetizers, and cold dishes, portioning desserts, and brewing coffee.
Prepare hot, cold, and mixed drinks for patrons, and chill bottles of wine.
Escort customers to their tables.
Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.
Describe and recommend wines to customers.
Provide guests with information about local areas, including directions.
Tasks via O*NET "Waiters and Waitresses" (35-3031.00).
What AI can already do
7 of 25 tasks, with tools
Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.
Present menus to patrons and answer questions about menu items, making recommendations upon request.
Inform customers of daily specials.
Explain how various menu items are prepared, describing ingredients and cooking methods.
Describe and recommend wines to customers.
Provide guests with information about local areas, including directions.
What still needs a person
18 of 25 tasks
Collect payments from customers.
Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals, and take action to correct any problems.
Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
Remove dishes and glasses from tables or counters, and take them to kitchen for cleaning.
Clean tables or counters after patrons have finished dining.
Serve food or beverages to patrons, and prepare or serve specialty dishes at tables as required.
Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom.
Prepare tables for meals, including setting up items such as linens, silverware, and glassware.
Stock service areas with supplies such as coffee, food, tableware, and linens.
Roll silverware, set up food stations, or set up dining areas to prepare for the next shift or for large parties.
Assist host or hostess by answering phones to take reservations or to-go orders, and by greeting, seating, and thanking guests.
Fill salt, pepper, sugar, cream, condiment, and napkin containers.
Garnish and decorate dishes in preparation for serving.
Perform food preparation duties, such as preparing salads, appetizers, and cold dishes, portioning desserts, and brewing coffee.
Prepare hot, cold, and mixed drinks for patrons, and chill bottles of wine.
Escort customers to their tables.
Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Elementary occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons