What this occupation does
Cashiers receive and disburse money in establishments other than financial institutions, typically processing customer payments, returns, and exchanges. The role spans point-of-sale operation, customer interaction, cash handling, and basic store-level support.
The exposure score in context
The ILO 2025 refined Generative AI Occupational Exposure Index places cashiers in the high exposure gradient. ILO 2025 places cashiers in the high exposure gradient. Point-of-sale automation (self-checkout, mobile payment) is the dominant disruption; generative AI compounds this where stores deploy AI-assisted customer service. The growing tasks are exception handling and complex customer interaction.
The mapping uses ISCO-08 code 5230 (BLS-published SOC-to-ISCO crosswalk). The full methodology, including the dominant-match rule for one-to-many crosswalks, is at /methodology/#algorithm.
The top five tasks, classified
The top five O*NET 30.2 tasks for this occupation, each tagged Displaceable / Changing / Growing per the Brookings 2024 task-level rubric. The tag definitions are at /glossary/#displaceable-task, /glossary/#changing-task, and /glossary/#growing-task.
- Displaceable: Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits. Self-checkout and AI-assisted payment are widely deployed; routine transactions are in scope.
- Changing: Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers. Standard issuance is automated; complex refunds remain human-led at most stores.
- Growing: Greet customers entering establishments. In-person greeting and store presence are physical, contextually constrained, and augmentation-prone.
- Changing: Resolve customer complaints. AI handles standard complaints; complex multi-issue complaints remain human-led.
- Growing: Maintain clean and orderly checkout areas. Physical store maintenance is contextually constrained and augmentation-prone.
What is growing in this role
The BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035 outlook for cashiers is decline (-6% projected change). Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035.
Per the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, the top three growing skills relevant to this role are: Empathy and active listening, Technological literacy, Resilience, flexibility and agility. The skills are mapped to the occupation's O*NET skills profile.
Brookings 2024 notes cashier-style tasks are among the most-exposed in retail. The dominant disruption is point-of-sale automation; generative AI compounds it through customer-service deployment.
Cashiers in the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025
Cashiers and ticket clerks face one of the largest declines in absolute numbers in the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, and rank among its fastest-declining roles by proportion, projected to fall about 20% by 2030 as self-checkout and digital ticketing spread. Source: World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025 (January 2025). The WEF lists are occupation-family level and global, ranked by change to 2030; they are distinct from the BLS 2025-2035 US projection above. The full named declining and growing lists are on what is growing.
Similar occupations
O*NET 30.2 lists the following related roles. Each links to its own deep dive where one is published.
- Customer Service Representatives
- Administrative Assistants
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing
- Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
- Construction Laborers
Industry context
This role sits primarily in the Retail industry. The industry-level rollup includes the cross-occupation exposure profile and the BLS-published industry-level outlook.
How this assessment was made
The full methodology is at /methodology/: ILO 2025 refined index for the gradient, Brookings 2024 rubric for the task tags, BLS 2025-2035 for the growth outlook, WEF 2025 for the skills demand. The pre-empted critiques are at /how-to-argue-with-this/.