Subsector, 541
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
10,800,470 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $108,640 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: 5.3 billion hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 69%
- 17%
- 14%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 17% 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, 19%. Today's estimate: 24%.
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 68% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 205,160 | 78% | 331 million | $52K |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 293,050 | 43% | 262 million | $84K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 183,700 | 64% | 246 million | $45K |
| Office Clerks, General | 194,890 | 54% | 220 million | $46K |
| Project Management Specialists | 305,210 | 33% | 210 million | $108K |
| General and Operations Managers | 438,720 | 23% | 208 million | $151K |
| Software Developers | 698,420 | 14% | 196 million | $133K |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 211,730 | 42% | 185 million | $61K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 188,270 | 43% | 167 million | $49K |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | 310,490 | 24% | 152 million | $62K |
| Receptionists and Information Clerks | 103,420 | 59% | 126 million | $39K |
| Tax Preparers | 74,040 | 81% | 124 million | $54K |
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. 484 smaller jobs (3,461,480 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 Developers195 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.Paralegals and Legal Assistants173 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand.Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists142 million hours90% of the task within reach
- Develop and implement records management program for filing, protection, and retrieval of records, and assure compliance with program.Management Analysts137 million hours76% of the task within reach
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.Software Developers135 million hours70% of the task within reach
- Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.Accountants and Auditors127 million hours98% of the task within reach
- Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.Software Developers126 million hours79% of the task within reach
- Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications.Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel125 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze data gathered and develop solutions or alternative methods of proceeding.Management Analysts117 million hours98% 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 Developers112 million hours38% 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.
Inside this industry
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services2,445,140 people24% now, 69% by 2028
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services1,872,730 people24% now, 65% by 2028
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services1,719,390 people18% now, 61% by 2028
- Legal Services1,224,710 people25% now, 62% by 2028
- Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services1,091,370 people34% now, 75% by 2028
- Scientific Research and Development Services931,790 people16% now, 57% by 2028
- Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services881,820 people26% now, 44% by 2028
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services481,600 people28% now, 65% by 2028
- Specialized Design Services151,930 people27% now, 70% 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