Industry group, 3116
Animal Slaughtering and Processing
557,460 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $47,380 a year (BLS, May 2025). What follows is how much of their working time the best AI models could finish, when, and in which jobs and tasks. Estimates.
of the paid hours. Estimate.
a year: 101 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 14%
- 4%
- 82%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 8% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 22% within reach now and 37% by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five.
Share of the paid hours within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this industry's paid hours were within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 8%. Today's estimate: 9%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Where the hours are
Jobs by hours within reach now. The 40 largest jobs hold 92% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 21,650 | 32% | 14 million | $71K |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 17,210 | 24% | 8.6 million | $41K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 6,670 | 53% | 7.3 million | $43K |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 31,850 | 9% | 6 million | $39K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 2,170 | 78% | 3.5 million | $47K |
| Industrial Machinery Mechanics | 9,790 | 15% | 3.1 million | $60K |
| Office Clerks, General | 2,730 | 54% | 3.1 million | $45K |
| Packers and Packagers, Hand | 18,810 | 7% | 2.8 million | $36K |
| Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks | 2,080 | 63% | 2.7 million | $56K |
| Food Batchmakers | 9,000 | 13% | 2.4 million | $39K |
| Maintenance and Repair Workers, General | 17,900 | 6% | 2.1 million | $59K |
| Industrial Production Managers | 4,200 | 24% | 2.1 million | $120K |
People: BLS counts for this industry, May 2025. Pay here: the median paid for the job in this industry, else its mean, else the national median. 138 smaller jobs (41,690 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 94% of the industry's people; the rest are in BLS "all other" groups with no task list, or in counts BLS does not publish.
The tasks with the most hours within reach by the end of 2028
Across the whole industry, on the chosen pace and reliability.
- Plan and establish work schedules, assignments, and production sequences to meet production goals.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers5.1 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Plan and develop new products and production processes.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers4.5 million hours67% of the task within reach
- Record numbers of units handled or moved, using daily production sheets or work tickets.Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand4.4 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Read and analyze charts, work orders, production schedules, and other records and reports to determine production requirements and to evaluate current production estimates and outputs.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers3.4 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Write test or inspection reports describing results, recommendations, or needed repairs.Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers3 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Record product, packaging, and order information on specified forms and records.Packers and Packagers, Hand2.8 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Design new equipment to aid in the repair or maintenance of machines, mechanical equipment, or building structures.Maintenance and Repair Workers, General2.7 million hours70% of the task within reach
- Formulate or modify recipes for specific kinds of food products.Food Batchmakers2.6 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Determine standards, budgets, production goals, and rates, based on company policies, equipment and labor availability, and workloads.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers2.6 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Calculate labor and equipment requirements and production specifications, using standard formulas.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers2.1 million hours100% of the task within reach
Scan a typical company in this industry
The industry's largest jobs, in the proportions BLS counts across the whole industry, at the pay it pays, run through the company scan. A starting point before you have a roster, or a benchmark for the one you have.
Next to this industry
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing350,710 people14% now, 26% by 2028
- Other Food Manufacturing274,060 people15% now, 25% by 2028
- Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing172,340 people14% now, 23% by 2028
- Dairy Product Manufacturing167,480 people15% now, 25% by 2028
- Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing83,910 people16% now, 27% by 2028
- Animal Food Manufacturing76,620 people18% now, 28% by 2028
- Grain and Oilseed Milling66,880 people16% now, 27% by 2028
- Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging29,030 people13% now, 20% by 2028
How it is built: BLS counts the people in each job in this industry; each job's tasks and their lengths give its share within reach at a date; the industry's share is those shares weighted by people. Value is pay times 1.43 for benefits and payroll costs. Seen in Claude use splits today's share by whether Anthropic saw people bring each task to Claude in 2025; other AI tools are not counted. How it works