Industry group, 5415
Computer Systems Design and Related Services
2,445,140 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $124,640 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: 1.3 billion hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 78%
- 15%
- 8%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 14% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 24% within reach now and 39% 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, 20%. Today's estimate: 26%.
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 86% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 116,400 | 69% | 166 million | $98K |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 157,660 | 42% | 139 million | $60K |
| Software Developers | 515,410 | 11% | 121 million | $132K |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 131,930 | 28% | 78 million | $180K |
| Project Management Specialists | 78,510 | 45% | 73 million | $125K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 51,130 | 67% | 71 million | $47K |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 57,200 | 34% | 40 million | $100K |
| General and Operations Managers | 94,950 | 19% | 37 million | $158K |
| Computer Network Support Specialists | 31,540 | 52% | 34 million | $74K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 18,470 | 76% | 29 million | $57K |
| Human Resources Specialists | 31,450 | 44% | 29 million | $94K |
| Sales Managers | 37,790 | 35% | 27 million | $180K |
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. 185 smaller jobs (351,954 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 99% 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 Developers144 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.Software Developers142 million hours99% 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 Developers82 million hours38% of the task within reach
- Determine system performance standards.Software Developers77 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 Developers70 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.Software Developers55 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications.Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel50 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Read technical manuals, confer with users, or conduct computer diagnostics to investigate and resolve problems or to provide technical assistance and support.Computer User Support Specialists49 million 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 Managers46 million hours62% of the task within reach
- Coordinate installation of software system.Software Developers41 million hours96% 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.
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services1,872,730 people26% now, 69% by 2028
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services1,719,390 people19% now, 62% by 2028
- Legal Services1,224,710 people26% now, 64% by 2028
- Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services1,091,370 people35% now, 75% by 2028
- Scientific Research and Development Services931,790 people17% now, 58% by 2028
- Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services881,820 people29% now, 47% by 2028
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services481,600 people29% now, 67% by 2028
- Specialized Design Services151,930 people29% now, 72% 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