Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products
Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers where technical or scientific knowledge is required in such areas as biology, engineering, chemistry, and electronics, normally obtained from at least 2 years of postsecondary education.
284,800 people do this job in the US. $104,920 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 60%
- 16%
- 24%
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, 41%. Today's estimate: 47%.
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 . 33 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare sales presentations or proposals to explain product specifications or applications.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 11% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | 40%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Visit establishments to evaluate needs or to promote product or service sales.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Compute customer's installation or production costs and estimate savings from new services, products, or equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 66%Half by now | |
| Identify prospective customers, using business directories, leads from existing clients, participation in organizations, or trade show or conference attendance.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Emphasize product features, based on analyses of customers' needs and on technical knowledge of product capabilities and limitations.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Demonstrate the operation or use of technical or scientific products.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare and submit sales contracts for orders.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Quote prices, credit terms, or other bid specifications.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Select or assist customers in selecting products based on customer needs, product specifications, and applicable regulations.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 87%Half by now | |
| Contact new or existing customers to discuss how specific products or services can meet their needs.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Advise customers on product usage to improve production.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | 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.
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products44% now, 52% by 2028
- Sales Engineers23% now, 49% by 2028
- Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products39% now, 65% by 2028
- Industrial Production Managers24% now, 70% by 2028
- Solar Sales Representatives and Assessors57% now, 90% by 2028
- Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products33% now, 86% 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).