Industry group, 3342
Communications Equipment Manufacturing
77,980 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $103,880 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: 34 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 58%
- 16%
- 26%
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, 17%. 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 79% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 8,870 | 14% | 2.5 million | $136K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 1,270 | 64% | 1.7 million | $55K |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | 2,100 | 36% | 1.6 million | $92K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 1,360 | 53% | 1.5 million | $46K |
| Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers | 3,970 | 17% | 1.4 million | $46K |
| General and Operations Managers | 2,650 | 23% | 1.3 million | $159K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 770 | 78% | 1.2 million | $56K |
| Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks | 870 | 63% | 1.1 million | $63K |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 2,030 | 25% | 1 million | $179K |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 2,070 | 24% | 1 million | $58K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 1,470 | 32% | 975,377 | $80K |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | 940 | 47% | 915,035 | $121K |
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. 109 smaller jobs (15,660 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 98% 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.
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.Software Developers2.5 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.Software Developers1.7 million hours70% of the task within reach
- Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.Software Developers1.6 million hours79% 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 Developers1.4 million hours38% of the task within reach
- Determine system performance standards.Software Developers1.3 million hours98% of the task within reach
- Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.Software Developers1.2 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.Software Developers954,105 hours100% of the task within reach
- Manage the coordination and overall integration of technical activities in architecture or engineering projects.Architectural and Engineering Managers782,267 hours100% of the task within reach
- Develop computer information resources, providing for data security and control, strategic computing, and disaster recovery.Computer and Information Systems Managers709,514 hours62% of the task within reach
- Develop or implement policies, standards, or procedures for engineering and technical work.Architectural and Engineering Managers664,538 hours85% 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
- Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing18,790 people21% now, 47% 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