cook
Cooks are culinary operatives who are able to prepare and present food, normally in domestic and institutional environments.
cook cooks are culinary operatives who are able to prepare and present food, normally in domestic and institutional environments. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.46 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include comply with food safety and hygiene, order supplies, store raw food materials, receive kitchen supplies, use food preparation techniques.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £24,228 a year for Cooks (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £20,334 to £27,831 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 5435). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Service and sales workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only cook, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 5. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Food Production
- Production and Processing
- Customer and Personal Service
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Education and Training
- English Language
What you'd actually do
- Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations.
- Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food.
- Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation.
- Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation.
- Inspect supplies, equipment, or work areas to ensure conformance to established standards.
- Check the quantity and quality of received products.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does cook do?
Cooks are culinary operatives who are able to prepare and present food, normally in domestic and institutional environments.
What skills does cook need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include comply with food safety and hygiene, order supplies, store raw food materials, receive kitchen supplies, use food preparation techniques, work in a hospitality team. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace cook?
Our AI-durability model gives cook a score of 0.46 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.