Industry group, 3391
Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing
330,970 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $76,220 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: 128 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 39%
- 13%
- 48%
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: 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 76% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Assemblers | 46,440 | 10% | 10 million | $44K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 6,790 | 64% | 9.1 million | $49K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 6,520 | 53% | 7.2 million | $46K |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 13,840 | 24% | 6.9 million | $50K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 10,190 | 32% | 6.8 million | $78K |
| Industrial Engineers | 15,540 | 16% | 5.2 million | $103K |
| Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks | 3,590 | 63% | 4.7 million | $60K |
| Office Clerks, General | 3,970 | 54% | 4.5 million | $48K |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | 6,010 | 36% | 4.5 million | $90K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 2,410 | 78% | 3.9 million | $55K |
| General and Operations Managers | 7,170 | 23% | 3.4 million | $148K |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | 3,270 | 47% | 3.2 million | $100K |
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. 193 smaller jobs (76,670 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.
- Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.Industrial Engineers5.2 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Review work orders and blueprints to ensure work is performed according to specifications.Team Assemblers4.1 million hours50% of the task within reach
- Recommend methods for improving utilization of personnel, material, and utilities.Industrial Engineers3.9 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Develop manufacturing methods, labor utilization standards, and cost analysis systems to promote efficient staff and facility utilization.Industrial Engineers3.5 million hours91% of the task within reach
- Complete production reports to communicate team production level to management.Team Assemblers3.3 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Determine work assignments and procedures.Team Assemblers3 million hours50% of the task within reach
- Draft and design layout of equipment, materials, and workspace to illustrate maximum efficiency using drafting tools and computer.Industrial Engineers2.8 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze statistical data and product specifications to determine standards and establish quality and reliability objectives of finished product.Industrial Engineers2.7 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Write test or inspection reports describing results, recommendations, or needed repairs.Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers2.5 million 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 Workers2.4 million 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