Industry group, 3335
Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing
151,670 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $67,280 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: 64 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 40%
- 10%
- 50%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 18% 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, 18%. 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 88% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators | 10,020 | 25% | 5.2 million | $52K |
| Machinists | 21,200 | 11% | 5 million | $58K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 6,430 | 32% | 4.3 million | $77K |
| Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers | 2,420 | 68% | 3.4 million | $66K |
| Office Clerks, General | 2,740 | 54% | 3.1 million | $47K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 2,790 | 53% | 3.1 million | $47K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 1,900 | 78% | 3.1 million | $54K |
| Tool and Die Makers | 10,160 | 13% | 2.7 million | $62K |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | 3,530 | 36% | 2.6 million | $82K |
| General and Operations Managers | 4,760 | 23% | 2.3 million | $123K |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 4,060 | 24% | 2 million | $49K |
| Team Assemblers | 8,770 | 10% | 1.9 million | $46K |
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. 116 smaller jobs (18,570 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.
- Design fixtures, tooling, or experimental parts to meet special engineering needs.Machinists4.4 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Program computers or electronic instruments, such as numerically controlled machine tools.Machinists2.9 million hours97% of the task within reach
- Design jigs, fixtures, and templates for use as work aids in the fabrication of parts or products.Tool and Die Makers2.3 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Develop and design new tools and dies, using computer-aided design software.Tool and Die Makers2.2 million hours92% of the task within reach
- Establish work procedures for fabricating new structural products, using a variety of metalworking machines.Machinists2 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Study blueprints, sketches, models, or specifications to plan sequences of operations for fabricating tools, dies, or assemblies.Tool and Die Makers2 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Study sample parts, blueprints, drawings, or engineering information to determine methods or sequences of operations needed to fabricate products.Machinists1.7 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Review program specifications or blueprints to determine and set machine operations and sequencing, finished workpiece dimensions, or numerical control sequences.Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators1.5 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Evaluate machining procedures and recommend changes or modifications for improved efficiency or adaptability.Machinists1.5 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 Workers1.5 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