Industry group, 3343
Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing
18,790 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $96,050 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: 7.5 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 51%
- 16%
- 34%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 16% 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, 18%. Today's estimate: 21%.
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 85% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | 890 | 36% | 662,731 | $128K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 450 | 64% | 602,784 | $52K |
| Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers | 1,720 | 17% | 590,304 | $45K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 400 | 53% | 440,128 | $46K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 230 | 78% | 371,239 | $55K |
| General and Operations Managers | 600 | 23% | 284,546 | $133K |
| Software Developers | 1,010 | 14% | 283,611 | $135K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 360 | 32% | 238,868 | $66K |
| Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks | 180 | 63% | 237,370 | $50K |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 400 | 25% | 206,337 | $219K |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 400 | 24% | 200,512 | $47K |
| Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers | 1,720 | 5% | 168,147 | $45K |
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. 63 smaller jobs (2,500 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 91% 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.
- Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand.Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists290,582 hours90% of the task within reach
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.Software Developers282,047 hours100% of the task within reach
- Explain assembly procedures or techniques to other workers.Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers251,112 hours100% of the task within reach
- Read and interpret schematic drawings, diagrams, blueprints, specifications, work orders, or reports to determine materials requirements or assembly instructions.Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers223,850 hours100% of the task within reach
- Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales.Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products202,243 hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.Software Developers195,194 hours70% of the task within reach
- Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.Software Developers181,976 hours79% of the task within reach
- Read blueprints and specifications to determine component parts and assembly sequences of electromechanical units.Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers170,580 hours100% of the task within reach
- Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design.Software Developers161,506 hours38% of the task within reach
- Determine system performance standards.Software Developers150,800 hours98% 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.
- Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing412,110 people19% now, 50% by 2028
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing380,570 people18% now, 46% by 2028
- Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing103,330 people22% now, 59% by 2028
- Communications Equipment Manufacturing77,980 people21% now, 53% by 2028
- Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media9,530 people25% now, 59% 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