Industry group, 5417
Scientific Research and Development Services
931,790 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $136,980 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: 312 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 67%
- 15%
- 18%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 12% 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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 12%. Today's estimate: 16%.
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 62% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Management Specialists | 24,420 | 33% | 17 million | $127K |
| General and Operations Managers | 31,740 | 23% | 15 million | $201K |
| Software Developers | 50,270 | 14% | 14 million | $158K |
| Office Clerks, General | 11,010 | 54% | 12 million | $49K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 11,370 | 43% | 10 million | $61K |
| Compliance Officers | 11,470 | 37% | 8.7 million | $107K |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 16,160 | 25% | 8.3 million | $216K |
| Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants | 8,080 | 47% | 8 million | $95K |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | 7,580 | 47% | 7.4 million | $155K |
| Human Resources Specialists | 9,100 | 39% | 7.3 million | $100K |
| Industrial Engineers | 16,060 | 16% | 5.3 million | $127K |
| Data Scientists | 11,480 | 22% | 5.3 million | $131K |
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. 329 smaller jobs (345,240 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 Developers14 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Design or coordinate successive phases of problem analysis, solution proposals, or testing.Natural Sciences Managers12 million hours98% of the task within reach
- Evaluate effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, parasites, and microorganisms at various levels.Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists11 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.Software Developers9.7 million hours70% of the task within reach
- Write and publish articles in scientific journals.Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists9.4 million hours63% of the task within reach
- Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.Software Developers9.1 million hours79% of the task within reach
- Study animal and human health and physiological processes.Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists9 million hours60% of the task within reach
- Write applications for research grants.Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists8.1 million hours56% 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 Developers8 million hours38% of the task within reach
- Review project activities and prepare and review research, testing, or operational reports.Natural Sciences Managers7.8 million hours99% 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.
- 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
- 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