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STRATUSWORKFORCE SCAN
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Pharmacy Aides

Record drugs delivered to the pharmacy, store incoming merchandise, and inform the supervisor of stock needs. May operate cash register and accept prescriptions for filling.

39,530 people do this job in the US. $37,680 a year.

now
46%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 47%
  • 0%
  • 53%
2%

Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.

Half the desk work within reach
Already

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 47% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 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, 13%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 45%. Today's estimate: 46%.

0%25%50%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 2% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 2% within reacho1, December 2024: 6% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 13% within reacho3, April 2025: 27% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 31% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 35% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 35% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 38% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 38% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 45% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 46% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

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 . 17 tasks from .

TaskKind
Receive, store, and inventory pharmaceutical supplies or medications, check for out-of-date medications, and notify pharmacist when inventory levels are low.Done daily by most who do it. 12%38 min13 min to 1.7 hStays with people
Prepare, maintain, and record records of inventories, receipts, purchases, or deliveries, using a variety of computer screen formats.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 11%25 min8 min to 1.3 h97%Half by now
Unpack, sort, count, and label incoming merchandise, including items requiring special handling or refrigeration.Done daily by most who do it. 9%29 min13 min to 1.3 hStays with people
Perform clerical tasks, such as filing, compiling and maintaining prescription records, or composing letters.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task.9%25 min8 min to 1.3 h97%Half by now
Process medical insurance claims, posting bill amounts and calculating copayments.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 9%13 min4 min to 29 min100%Half by now
Compound, package, and label pharmaceutical products, under direction of pharmacist.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 7%21 min8 min to 50 minStays with people
Deliver medication to treatment areas, living units, residences, or clinics, using various means of transportation.Done more than weekly by most who do it. 6%29 min13 min to 1.3 hStays with people
Maintain and clean equipment, work areas, or shelves.Done daily by most who do it. 6%17 min8 min to 38 minStays with people
Restock storage areas, replenishing items on shelves.Done daily by most who do it. 6%21 min8 min to 50 minStays with people
Accept prescriptions for filling, gathering and processing necessary information.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 4%8 min4 min to 21 min100%Half by now
Answer telephone inquiries, referring callers to pharmacist when necessary.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 4%6 min3 min to 13 min100%Half by now
Calculate anticipated drug usage for a prescribed period.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 4%10 min4 min to 25 min100%Half by now

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.

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).