Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians
Apply engineering theory and principles to problems of industrial layout or manufacturing production, usually under the direction of engineering staff. May perform time and motion studies on worker operations in a variety of industries for purposes such as establishing standard production rates or improving efficiency.
75,570 people do this job in the US. $66,120 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 77%
- 0%
- 23%
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 9%. Today's estimate: 12%.
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 . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop or implement programs to address problems related to production, materials, safety, or quality.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | 2%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Develop sustainable manufacturing technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimize raw material use, replace toxic materials with non-toxic materials, replace non-renewable materials with renewable materials, or reduce waste.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| Develop production, inventory, or quality assurance programs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 0%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Design plant layouts or production facilities.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 3.1 work days6.7 h to 2.1 work weeks | 0%Half by Sep 2028 | |
| Prepare layouts, drawings, or sketches of machinery or equipment, such as shop tooling, scale layouts, or new equipment design, using drafting equipment or computer-aided design (CAD) software.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 15%Half by Jun 2027 | |
| Study time, motion, methods, or speed involved in maintenance, production, or other operations to establish standard production rate or improve efficiency.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Assist engineers in developing, building, or testing prototypes or new products, processes, or procedures.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Conduct statistical studies to analyze or compare production costs for sustainable and nonsustainable designs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1 work day2.5 h to 3.1 work days | 5%Half by Oct 2027 | |
| Develop manufacturing infrastructure to integrate or deploy new manufacturing processes.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 0%Half by Sep 2028 | |
| Analyze, estimate, or report production costs.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 25%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Oversee or inspect production processes.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Identify opportunities for improvements in quality, cost, or efficiency of automation equipment.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.7 work days | 21%Half by May 2027 |
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.
- Industrial Engineers16% now, 94% by 2028
- Manufacturing Engineers14% now, 80% by 2028
- Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians16% now, 49% by 2028
- Calibration Technologists and Technicians17% now, 55% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians17% now, 49% by 2028
- Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians4% now, 17% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing6,130 people
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing5,810 people
- Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing4,320 people
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services4,230 people
- Plastics Product Manufacturing4,130 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).