Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

Facilitate food service. Clean tables; remove dirty dishes; replace soiled table linens; set tables; replenish supply of clean linens, silverware, glassware, and dishes; supply service bar with food; and serve items such as water, condiments, and coffee to patrons.

The occupation "Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers" has an automation risk of 22.6%, which is just slightly below the base risk of 22.8%. This relatively moderate risk suggests that, while some aspects of the job can be automated, there are notable tasks that still require a human touch. Automation risk in this role is influenced by the prevalence of repetitive, predictable tasks that machines can efficiently perform, but the need for adaptability, minor decision-making, and customer interaction buffers the risk from being higher. Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence could further impact the risk over time, but current technologies face limitations with dexterous and context-sensitive tasks. The top three tasks most susceptible to automation in this occupation highlight routine and physical functions that can be replicated by machines. "Running cash registers" is already widely automated with self-service kiosks and digital payment systems in many dining environments. "Serving ice water, coffee, rolls, or butter to patrons" involves simple, repetitive actions that can be mechanized with delivery robots or automated service stations. "Scraping and stacking dirty dishes and carrying them to kitchens for cleaning" combines physical labor with minimal need for judgment, making it an attractive task for automated systems such as conveyor belts or dish-handling robots. Conversely, tasks resistant to automation typically require fine motor skills, decision-making, or aesthetic judgment. These include "stocking refrigerating units with wines or bottled beer or replacing empty beer kegs," which may involve unpredictable layouts or require careful handling. "Slicing and pitting fruit used to garnish drinks" demands precision and adaptation to varying shapes and sizes of produce, a challenge for automated equipment. "Mixing and preparing flavors for mixed drinks" not only requires accuracy but also creativity and a sense of taste, further reducing automation feasibility. Supporting this, bottleneck skills like Originality—measured at 2.0% and 1.8% respectively—underscore the importance of creative problem-solving and adaptability, which current automation struggles to replicate efficiently.