Industry group, 3344
Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing
380,570 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $100,320 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: 141 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 52%
- 11%
- 38%
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, 15%. Today's estimate: 18%.
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 81% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semiconductor Processing Technicians | 27,820 | 20% | 11 million | $52K |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 17,190 | 24% | 8.6 million | $49K |
| Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers | 24,655 | 17% | 8.5 million | $41K |
| Industrial Engineers | 20,060 | 16% | 6.7 million | $108K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 9,810 | 32% | 6.5 million | $78K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 5,250 | 53% | 5.8 million | $46K |
| Software Developers | 19,770 | 14% | 5.6 million | $169K |
| Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks | 4,080 | 63% | 5.4 million | $59K |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians | 9,690 | 17% | 3.5 million | $73K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 2,000 | 78% | 3.2 million | $58K |
| Computer Hardware Engineers | 18,120 | 8% | 3.2 million | $166K |
| Project Management Specialists | 4,260 | 33% | 2.9 million | $136K |
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. 156 smaller jobs (71,800 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.
- Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.Industrial Engineers6.7 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.Software Developers5.5 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Recommend methods for improving utilization of personnel, material, and utilities.Industrial Engineers5.1 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Build, test, and modify product prototypes, using working models or theoretical models constructed with computer simulation.Computer Hardware Engineers4.9 million hours62% of the task within reach
- Develop manufacturing methods, labor utilization standards, and cost analysis systems to promote efficient staff and facility utilization.Industrial Engineers4.5 million hours91% of the task within reach
- Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals.Semiconductor Processing Technicians4.4 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Write detailed functional specifications that document the hardware development process and support hardware introduction.Computer Hardware Engineers4.1 million hours90% of the task within reach
- Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports.Semiconductor Processing Technicians3.8 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.Software Developers3.8 million hours70% of the task within reach
- Draft and design layout of equipment, materials, and workspace to illustrate maximum efficiency using drafting tools and computer.Industrial Engineers3.7 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.
- Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing412,110 people19% now, 50% by 2028
- Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing103,330 people22% now, 59% by 2028
- Communications Equipment Manufacturing77,980 people21% now, 53% by 2028
- Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing18,790 people21% now, 47% by 2028
- Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media9,530 people25% now, 59% 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