← UK Occupations
🇬🇧 UKSOC 5434· Textiles, Printing and Other Skilled Trades

Chefs

Chefs plan menus and prepare, or oversee the preparation of food in hotels, restaurants, clubs, private households and other establishments.

ChefChef-managerFood stylistHead chefPastry chef
£26,531
median salary
£17,587 – £31,579
225,800
currently employed
222,111
projected 2035
Stable
5 tasks scored2 AI Assists3 Human-Led

Task Bundle Breakdown

How AI interacts with this occupation's task bundle

40%
60%
0%
AI automates
40%
AI assists
60%
Human-led

Task-by-Task Breakdown

Every task scored individually — sorted highest to lowest AI exposure

44

plans menus, prepares, seasons and cooks foodstuffs or oversees their preparation and monitors the quality of finished dishes

AI Assists

AI tools like ChatGPT or specialised platforms like Winnow can suggest menu ideas, balance nutritional profiles, and flag cost optimisations, but the creative cooking, seasoning, and quality judgement remain firmly human.

44

ensures relevant hygiene and health and safety standards are maintained within the kitchen

AI Assists

AI-powered compliance tools can generate hygiene checklists, flag regulatory updates, and log temperature records automatically, but physical inspections and enforcement of standards still require human presence.

33

supervises, organises and instructs kitchen staff and manages the whole kitchen or an area of the kitchen

Human-Led

AI scheduling tools like Deputy can assist with rota planning and task allocation, but real-time supervision, motivation, and on-the-spot kitchen management require human leadership and interpersonal skills.

33

plans and co-ordinates kitchen work such as fetching, clearing and cleaning of equipment and utensils

Human-Led

AI scheduling and workflow tools can help plan cleaning rotas and equipment usage, but the physical tasks of fetching, clearing, and cleaning are hands-on and cannot be automated without robotics.

22

requisitions or purchases and examines foodstuffs from suppliers to ensure quality

Human-Led

AI can help analyse supplier data or flag quality inconsistencies from invoices, but physically inspecting and judging freshness of ingredients requires human sensory judgment.

ROI Calculator

Chefs

7.1hrs
saved per week
342hrs
per year ≈ 9.1 weeks
£5,041
salary-equivalent capacity freed per year

This is not a pay rise — it's 342 hours of productive capacity that AI could return to you, valued at your current rate.

£10,612
value at risk — 40% of role exposed to AI

The portion of your current salary tied to tasks AI can automate or augment. Not a prediction of job loss — a signal of where your role is changing fastest.

How is this calculated?▾

Task weights — each task is weighted by its O*NET frequency rating. Where frequency data is absent, equal weighting is applied.

AI time reduction — tasks scored as "AI Automates" assume 80% time saving; "AI Assists" assumes 40%; "Human-Led" assumes 5%.

Salary equivalent — annual hours saved × (salary ÷ 1,800 working hours/year).

Value at risk — salary × share of role time in AI-automate or AI-assist tasks.

Figures are indicative estimates for planning purposes, not guarantees of productivity gain or job loss risk.