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The differences between food service technicians and food service workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a food service technician has an average salary of $33,791, which is higher than the $28,753 average annual salary of a food service worker.
The top three skills for a food service technician include patients, tray line and food handling. The most important skills for a food service worker are food handling, safety standards, and customer service.
| Food Service Technician | Food Service Worker | |
| Yearly salary | $33,791 | $28,753 |
| Hourly rate | $16.25 | $13.82 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 120,800 | 169,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 35% | High School Diploma, 44% |
| Average age | 23 | 37 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A food technician monitors what goes in and out of a kitchen. The role entails ensuring that whatever food leaves the kitchen meets the company's standard. The role also requires them to work closely with the food service team to ensure adequate preparation, cleaning, and sanitizing of cooking equipment and work area. Food technicians are employed at hotels, restaurants, hospitals, or schools.
Foodservice workers are employees at restaurants, food trucks, or any outlet that provides food to customers. They may be assigned to welcome customers, take food orders, prepare food orders in the kitchen, serve food, handle customer payments, clean up the tables once the guests leave, or maintain the whole store's cleanliness. They may also be assigned to manage inventories, handle stocks and deliveries, and other activities related to the restaurant's successful operations. Foodservice workers must always be hygienic and maintain the sanitation of the area to ensure food safety.
Food service technicians and food service workers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Food Service Technician | Food Service Worker | |
| Average salary | $33,791 | $28,753 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $45,000 | Between $22,000 And $36,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Clara, CA | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | California | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Gillette | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Retail |
There are a few differences between a food service technician and a food service worker in terms of educational background:
| Food Service Technician | Food Service Worker | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 35% | High School Diploma, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between food service technicians' and food service workers' demographics:
| Food Service Technician | Food Service Worker | |
| Average age | 23 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.7% Female, 57.3% | Male, 36.6% Female, 63.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.5% White, 57.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 7.1% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 6% |