Industry group, 3152
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing
62,100 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $57,100 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: 21 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 31%
- 10%
- 59%
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: 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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 16%. Today's estimate: 19%.
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 93% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 1,830 | 53% | 2 million | $40K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 1,500 | 64% | 2 million | $46K |
| Office Clerks, General | 1,430 | 54% | 1.6 million | $45K |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | 1,970 | 36% | 1.5 million | $75K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 1,870 | 32% | 1.2 million | $57K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 690 | 78% | 1.1 million | $52K |
| Graphic Designers | 1,030 | 51% | 1.1 million | $59K |
| Sewing Machine Operators | 20,940 | 2% | 914,659 | $36K |
| General and Operations Managers | 1,780 | 23% | 844,153 | $93K |
| Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks | 530 | 63% | 698,924 | $55K |
| Fashion Designers | 2,180 | 15% | 689,235 | $79K |
| Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers | 1,020 | 32% | 681,037 | $64K |
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. 59 smaller jobs (3,650 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 89% 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.
- Record quantities of materials processed.Sewing Machine Operators915,095 hours100% of the task within reach
- Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.Fashion Designers675,626 hours100% of the task within reach
- Research the styles and periods of clothing needed for film or theatrical productions.Fashion Designers649,410 hours98% of the task within reach
- Develop a group of products or accessories, and market them through venues such as boutiques or mail-order catalogs.Fashion Designers598,708 hours64% of the task within reach
- Prepare documents, such as work orders, bills of lading, or shipping orders, to route materials.Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks487,828 hours100% of the task within reach
- Design custom clothing and accessories for individuals, retailers, or theatrical, television, or film productions.Fashion Designers479,486 hours85% 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 Products447,661 hours100% of the task within reach
- Plan and establish work schedules, assignments, and production sequences to meet production goals.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers438,749 hours100% of the task within reach
- Plan and develop new products and production processes.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers391,439 hours67% of the task within reach
- Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts.Graphic Designers369,100 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.
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