Industry group, 5616
Investigation and Security Services
1,061,550 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $47,740 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: 365 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 22%
- 23%
- 56%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 15% 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, 16%. Today's estimate: 17%.
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 20 largest jobs hold 95% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Security Guards | 768,900 | 14% | 227 million | $37K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers | 44,540 | 20% | 18 million | $48K |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 16,270 | 43% | 15 million | $77K |
| Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance | 7,570 | 80% | 13 million | $44K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 8,210 | 64% | 11 million | $44K |
| Office Clerks, General | 9,220 | 54% | 10 million | $45K |
| General and Operations Managers | 16,700 | 23% | 7.9 million | $96K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 4,290 | 78% | 6.9 million | $53K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 5,260 | 43% | 4.7 million | $46K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers | 6,670 | 27% | 3.7 million | $79K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 4,840 | 35% | 3.5 million | $66K |
| Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers | 55,920 | 3% | 2.9 million | $60K |
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. 135 smaller jobs (50,670 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.
- Write reports of daily activities and irregularities, such as equipment or property damage, theft, presence of unauthorized persons, or unusual occurrences.Security Guards145 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises.Security Guards34 million hours20% of the task within reach
- Inspect and adjust security systems, equipment, or machinery to ensure operational use and to detect evidence of tampering.Security Guards24 million hours20% of the task within reach
- Develop and document security procedures, policies, or standards.First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers18 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Answer telephone calls to take messages, answer questions, and provide information during non-business hours or when switchboard is closed.Security Guards18 million hours30% of the task within reach
- Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications.Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel6.9 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Monitor and adjust controls that regulate building systems, such as air conditioning, furnace, or boiler.Security Guards5.4 million hours40% of the task within reach
- Monitor closed-circuit television cameras.First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers5.2 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Prepare daily work and run schedules.Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance4.6 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Identify prospective customers using business directories, leads from clients, or information from conferences or trade shows.Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel3.5 million hours70% 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.
- Employment Services3,301,980 people20% now, 33% by 2028
- Services to Buildings and Dwellings2,310,020 people11% now, 15% by 2028
- Business Support Services652,900 people52% now, 64% by 2028
- Office Administrative Services553,120 people36% now, 66% by 2028
- Other Support Services328,520 people23% now, 36% by 2028
- Facilities Support Services200,420 people15% now, 25% by 2028
- Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services190,670 people38% now, 57% 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