Helpers--Production Workers
Help production workers by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include supplying or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
165,700 people do this job in the US. $39,070 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 3%
- 0%
- 97%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 3%.
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 34 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate machinery used in the production process, or assist machine operators.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Pack and store materials and products.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Separate products according to weight, grade, size, or composition of materials used to produce them.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Help production workers by performing duties of lesser skill, such as supplying or holding materials or tools, or cleaning work areas and equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Prepare raw materials for processing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min4 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Transfer finished products, raw materials, tools, or equipment between storage and work areas of plants and warehouses, by hand or using hand trucks or powered lift trucks.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Wash work areas, machines, equipment, vehicles, or products.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform minor repairs to machines, such as replacing damaged or worn parts.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine products to verify conformance to quality standards.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 7 min2 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Count finished products to determine if product orders are complete.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min2 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Load and unload items from machines, conveyors, and conveyances.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min2 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe equipment operations so that malfunctions can be detected, and notify operators of any malfunctions.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers2% now, 2% by 2028
- Helpers--Extraction Workers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Helpers--Carpenters0% now, 0% by 2028
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters6% now, 6% by 2028
- Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons0% now, 0% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).