Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
Also called: Fryer Operator, Kettle Fry Cook Operator, Machine Operator, Retort OperatorOperate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 1 of its 17 tasks, and jobs are projected to shrink 0.3% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 7.0% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 8.4 hires for every 10 job openings in nondurable goods manufacturing, which employs about 81% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.8.4 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $27,080 | $27,080 to $36,190 | 250 |
| Arizona | $44,050 | $34,660 to $49,690 | 560 |
| Arkansas | $40,480 | $38,180 to $46,310 | 330 |
| California | $44,740 | $37,790 to $48,080 | 2,010 |
| Colorado | $46,900 | $44,050 to $51,440 | 300 |
| Connecticut | $38,880 | $35,760 to $48,380 | 60 |
| Delaware | $31,240 | $31,240 to $39,530 | not published |
| Florida | $36,450 | $31,980 to $42,520 | 970 |
| Georgia | $38,440 | $36,260 to $43,020 | 690 |
| Idaho | $45,120 | $38,520 to $59,310 | 790 |
| Illinois | $42,670 | $36,490 to $47,200 | 2,460 |
| Indiana | $43,350 | $40,280 to $47,400 | 540 |
| Iowa | $47,900 | $46,380 to $49,880 | 850 |
| Kansas | $45,850 | $43,360 to $47,050 | 750 |
| Kentucky | $41,800 | $38,040 to $52,780 | 300 |
| Louisiana | $44,440 | $31,540 to $61,350 | 550 |
| Maine | $37,500 | $37,140 to $49,830 | 170 |
| Maryland | $36,960 | $36,500 to $39,790 | not published |
| Massachusetts | $47,960 | $41,030 to $50,250 | 170 |
| Michigan | $47,260 | $43,880 to $50,680 | 380 |
| Minnesota | $47,250 | $47,130 to $48,680 | 1,410 |
| Mississippi | $31,150 | $31,110 to $34,240 | 110 |
| Missouri | $42,160 | $36,520 to $48,600 | 620 |
| Nebraska | $45,420 | $36,790 to $48,420 | 670 |
| Nevada | $36,610 | $31,680 to $36,610 | not published |
| New Hampshire | $40,440 | $36,330 to $40,440 | 110 |
| New Jersey | $37,180 | $32,290 to $41,350 | 430 |
| New York | $45,680 | $41,590 to $55,740 | 1,300 |
| North Carolina | $39,070 | $30,150 to $44,250 | 770 |
| Ohio | $41,160 | $36,910 to $48,580 | 980 |
| Oklahoma | $36,030 | $35,990 to $43,690 | 1,140 |
| Oregon | $44,530 | $38,940 to $46,990 | 570 |
| Pennsylvania | $42,710 | $37,160 to $47,050 | 1,580 |
| Puerto Rico | $25,480 | $25,480 to $27,830 | 220 |
| South Carolina | $38,220 | $38,030 to $38,320 | 520 |
| South Dakota | $39,270 | $33,050 to $42,860 | 120 |
| Tennessee | $45,620 | $41,200 to $55,270 | 1,820 |
| Texas | $33,980 | $29,580 to $37,100 | 3,180 |
| Utah | $48,620 | $37,070 to $52,630 | 390 |
| Virginia | $35,140 | $31,720 to $41,990 | 510 |
| Washington | $51,100 | $47,580 to $56,850 | 310 |
| Wisconsin | $40,000 | $39,300 to $50,600 | 850 |
Nationally: $41,590. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 1 of its 17 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses. | Not published |
| Not much | Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications. | Not published |
| AI + software | Record production and test data, such as processing steps, temperature and steam readings, cooking time, batches processed, and test results. | Not published |
| Not much | Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients. | Not published |
| Not much | Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing. | Not published |
See all 17 tasks
| Not much | Listen for malfunction alarms, and shut down equipment and notify supervisors when necessary. | Not published |
| Not much | Remove cooked material or products from equipment. | Not published |
| Not much | Pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist. | Not published |
| Not much | Turn valves or start pumps to add ingredients or drain products from equipment and to transfer products for storage, cooling, or further processing. | Not published |
| Not much | Set temperature, pressure, and time controls, and start conveyers, machines, or pumps. | Not published |
| Not much | Collect and examine product samples during production to test them for quality, color, content, consistency, viscosity, acidity, or specific gravity. | Not published |
| Not much | Notify or signal other workers to operate equipment or when processing is complete. | Not published |
| Not much | Admit required amounts of water, steam, cooking oils, or compressed air into equipment, such as by opening water valves to cool mixtures to the desired consistency. | Not published |
| Not much | Activate agitators and paddles to mix or stir ingredients, stopping machines when ingredients are thoroughly mixed. | Not published |
| Not much | Place products on conveyors or carts, and monitor product flow. | Not published |
| Not much | Operate auxiliary machines and equipment, such as grinders, canners, and molding presses, to prepare or further process products. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 1 of the 17 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 17 tasks fall under 17 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #8 Read documents or materials to inform work processes
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance | |||
| Operate industrial processing or production equipment | |||
| Monitor equipment operation | |||
| Read documents or materials to inform work processes | |||
| Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment | |||
| Inspect completed work or finished products | |||
| Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas | |||
| Maintain operational records |
Show all 17 activities
| Notify others of emergencies or problems | |||
| Collect samples of products or materials | |||
| Move materials, equipment, or supplies | |||
| Operate cutting or grinding equipment | |||
| Signal others to coordinate work activities | |||
| Operate pumping systems or equipment | |||
| Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing | |||
| Operate lifting or moving equipment | |||
| Remove workpieces from production equipment |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- A recipe or meal plan44%
- Math or a calculation24%
- Advice or a recommendation9%
- Data or a spreadsheet9%
- An explanation or answer9%
How they worked with Claude
6% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for food cooking machine operators and tenders specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 1,475 moves out
- 1 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 5%
- 2 Production Workers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
- 3 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
- 4 Sales Managers High +4.5% 3%
- 5 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 1,580 moves in
- 1 Production Workers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 7%
- 2 Retail Salespersons Very high -0.3% 5%
- 3 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 5%
- 4 Cooks, Restaurant Moderate +12.1% 4%
- 5 Team Assemblers 4%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 86% high school
- 14% postsecondary certificate
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 17 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 24% less than high school
- 37% high school
- 15% some college
- 13% associate's
- 11% bachelor's
- 1% master's
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 101 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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