Food and Beverage Services Workers

How to become a Waiter and Waitress

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 餐厅服务员

Seats customers, helps them order and sets up the dining room and serves food in restaurants.

Main tasks

Checking tables, chairs, lighting, air conditioning and other facilities and setting out tableware and glassware
Planning table layouts and choosing and setting out dishes and cutlery
Introducing and recommending dishes before the meal and taking and passing on orders
Serving dishes, announcing them, portioning, pouring drinks and changing tableware during the meal
Welcoming and farewelling guests
Taking payment and clearing tables after the meal
Washing, sanitising and sorting tableware, kitchenware and glassware

Ways in

Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Food Nutrition and Health (490103). Vocational major 490103 Food Nutrition and Health (食品营养与健康), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Sports Nutrition Consulting and Guidance; Food Inspection Management.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥51,000 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥39,200 to CN¥69,200. One in ten earn less than CN¥31,700 and one in ten more than CN¥93,200.
This is the figure for the mid group Accommodation and Food Services Workers, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥54,000 a year (2025), middle half CN¥42,718 to CN¥68,455.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Accommodation and Food Services Workers holds 4.57% of everyone employed in China; 53.3% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
37.7% are under 35, 52.3% are 35 to 54 and 10% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 35 to 39.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Waiter and Waitress?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Food Nutrition and Health (490103).

How much does a Waiter and Waitress earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥51,000 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Accommodation and Food Services Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥54,000 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Waiter and Waitress?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026