Food Service Working

What the Numbers Say About Food Service Working

0.3% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Food Service Working occupation (OPM code 7408): 5,834 people, headcount down -3.4% versus the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition.

Food Service Working pays $47,810 per year on average, 56.5% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 1.6% from the prior period (a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement). Employees in this role stay an average of 7.8 years, a comparatively short average tenure, which can reflect faster turnover, a competitive private-sector alternative, or a newer program still building up its workforce.

Code 74, the Food Preparation and Serving Family family, is where the federal government classifies Food Service Working alongside 3 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Food Service Working postings should also review these sibling occupations, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Inside the Food Preparation and Serving Family family (4 occupations, 10,934 employees combined), Food Service Working holds the #1 spot by headcount, a 53.4% share of the family total. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (0th percentile) of pay among Food Preparation and Serving Family occupations.