Waiting Staff Among UK's Most Thanked Workers: New Study

Checkout staff, waiters and taxi drivers get thanked more than any other workers in the UK, according to an October 2026 report on the most rewarding professions. This freshly released study by the delivery insurance provider Street Cover reveals the top 10 jobs that get most recognition for their service, and what they actually pay.

• Waiters get a thank-you from about 4 in 10 customers, more than 10 times as often as the typical job.
• 1 in 4 Brits thank their stylist after getting a haircut, but a full-time salon job actually pays only £24K a year, nearly 40% less than the typical UK salary.
• Bus drivers are in a class of their own, as 93 in every 100 people asked say they thank the busman before getting off.

The research went through nearly 1.4K posts from 11 UK forum threads, where people talked about the workers they thank. Every post was sorted by the job it mentioned, and each person was counted once per job. Jobs were ranked by how many of the forum users who shared who they thank named them. Typical pay for each job came from official UK statistics and was compared with the legal minimum wage for better context. These findings reflect responses from internet users, not a nationwide poll.

Here's a look at the 10 jobs people in the UK thank the most:

| Job | Thank-You Score (per 100 people) | Share of All Mentions | Compared with the Typical Job | Typical Full-Time Pay (£ per year) | Pay Compared with Typical UK Worker (%) | Typical Hourly Pay (£) | Above the Legal Minimum (£ per hour) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Shop and checkout staff | 67 | 26% | 18.9× | 25.1K | -36% | 12.62 | 0.41 | | Waiting staff | 39 | 15% | 11.1× | 22.9K | -41% | 12.21 | 0.00 | | Taxi and minicab drivers | 26 | 10% | 7.4× | 26.8K | -31% | 13.11 | 0.90 | | Hairdressers and barbers | 24 | 9% | 6.9× | 24.3K | -38% | 12.30 | 0.09 | | Delivery drivers | 19 | 7% | 5.4× | 27.9K | -29% | 12.85 | 0.64 | | Doctors and surgeons | 11 | 4% | 3.1× | 78.8K | +102% | 40.62 | 28.41 | | Coffee shop and fast food staff | 8 | 3% | 2.3× | 21.6K | -45% | 12.30 | 0.09 | | Postal workers | 8 | 3% | 2.3× | 31.7K | -19% | 14.45 | 2.24 | | Train staff | 7 | 3% | 2.0× | 46.1K | +18% | 22.73 | 10.52 | | Bar staff | 5 | 2% | 1.4× | 23.2K | -41% | 12.21 | 0.00 |

You can access the complete research findings here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRUmuGhcEMzYp-rQEDBAJd224Hg2qaJNLxsdTdMclOicdyg96mKJKv9YUttZX5crNQ4ikKcYTcMCcXB/pubhtml

1. Shop and checkout staff

• Forum users who thank them: 66 of 99
• Typical full-time pay: £25.1K a year
• Pay compared with the typical UK full-time worker: £14K lower (35.8%)
• Typical hourly pay: £12.62, 41p above the legal minimum

Shop and checkout staff get the most recognition among UK workers, with 2 in 3 people saying thanks to them. Nearly every shopping trip ends at a till, so these are the people customers meet most often. The paycheck doesn't match the gratitude, though. A full-time checkout worker typically earns about £25K a year, around £14K less than the typical UK full-time worker, and the hourly rate of £12.62 is just 41p above the legal minimum.

2. Waiting staff

Going to a restaurant means interacting with the waiter a couple of times during dining, and nearly 4 in 10 Brits say they always thank their attendants for the service. But similar to checkout staff, the reward is only customer appreciation and doesn't translate to better pay. The typical waiter earned £12.21 an hour in 2025, exactly the legal minimum at the time. Full-time work comes to about £23K a year, more than 40% below the typical UK full-time salary.

3. Taxi and minicab drivers

About 1 in 4 people thank their taxi or minicab driver for the ride, usually with a quick word at the end of the trip. While the job can be fulfilling because of that, employed drivers actually earn about £27K a year full-time, roughly 30% below the typical UK full-time salary, and their £13.11 hourly pay is only 90p above the legal minimum. Official pay figures cover employees only, though, so drivers working with apps like Uber aren't included.

4. Hairdressers and barbers

Hairdressers and barbers come close behind, thanked by nearly 1 in 4 customers. A haircut takes far longer than a checkout at the counter, so there is plenty of time for a chat and a thank-you at the end. That said, full-time salon employees only get paid about £24K a year, close to 40% below the typical UK full-time salary, with an hourly wage of £12.30, just 9p over the legal minimum.

5. Delivery drivers

Delivery drivers round out the top five, getting thank-yous from about 1 in 5 Brits. Christmas is when that thanks can turn into cash, too, as over 1 in 3 people tip their courier. Still, the job doesn't pay much. Employed delivery drivers typically earn about £28K a year full-time, close to 30% below the typical UK full-time salary. Self-employed riders aren't counted in the official figures, though, so their pay could look different.

Al Taylor, Head of Street Cover, commented on the findings:

"People appreciate the workers who keep everyday life moving, from delivery drivers bringing essentials to our doors to taxi drivers getting people safely to their destinations. Recognition from customers matters, but it's equally important to recognise the practical and financial pressures these workers face. For people on wages close to the legal minimum, a tip is one small way that appreciation turns into something tangible. Customers often wonder where a tip ends up, and a Which? survey found that 31% of restaurant tippers weren't sure who received it. Since October 2024, UK employers have had to pass tips on to staff, with no deductions other than tax and National Insurance. That includes card tips and service charges, so a tip left on the bill goes to the workers, not the business."

ENDS