Semiconductor Processing Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 20% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 80% of the time, stays with people.
Perform any or all of the following functions in the manufacture of electronic semiconductors: load semiconductor material into furnace; saw formed ingots into segments; load individual segment into crystal growing chamber and monitor controls; locate crystal axis in ingot using x-ray equipment and saw ingots into wafers; and clean, polish, and load wafers into series of special purpose furnaces, chemical baths, and equipment used to form circuitry and change conductive properties.
31,460 people do this job in the US. $51,430 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on8 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people32 h
Semiconductor Processing Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 8 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 32 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals (about 3 h); Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports (about 3 h); Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 20%
- 0%
- 80%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days 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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 20%. Today's estimate: 20%.
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.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 17 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 75% of this job's working time as physical work. For 75% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 16% in a purpose-built cell, 59% in a structured facility. 1.35 of 3, the 38th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 25%
- In a purpose-built cell 16%
- In a structured facility 59%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etch, lap, polish, or grind wafers or ingots to form circuitry and change conductive properties, using etching, lapping, polishing, or grinding equipment.Done several times a day by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Daifuku Cleanway AMHS (OHT / clean stocker) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Align photo mask pattern on photoresist layer, expose pattern to ultraviolet light, and develop pattern, using specialized equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, ASML TWINSCAN (dual-stage DUV/EUV lithography scanner) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect materials, components, or products for surface defects and measure circuitry, using electronic test equipment, precision measuring instruments, microscope, and standard procedures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, KLA broadband plasma (BBP) patterned wafer inspection systems (KLA 2020 through current BBP line, e.g. C205, 8935) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean and maintain equipment, including replacing etching and rinsing solutions and cleaning bath containers and work area.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated wet bench with auto-dosing / bath refresh control (Modutek) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Load and unload equipment chambers and transport finished product to storage or to area for further processing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Muratec SRC350X / G3X Overhead Hoist Transport (OHT), cleanroom AMHS (Murata Machinery) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 29 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Clean semiconductor wafers using cleaning equipment, such as chemical baths, automatic wafer cleaners, or blow-off wands.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, TEL ZETA+ 200/300 Batch Spray System (Tokyo Electron) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Place semiconductor wafers in processing containers or equipment holders, using vacuum wand or tweezers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, H-Square WS300 Wafer Sorter Mover (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Count, sort, and weigh processed items.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, FORTREND wafer sorter (SORTER/EFEM product line) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Load semiconductor material into furnace.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, S-300 automated cantilever loading system with WTM shuttle (Bruce Technologies) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 38 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.
- Chemical Plant and System Operators22% now, 22% by 2028
- Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic6% now, 6% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers8% now, 8% by 2028
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic7% now, 7% by 2028
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders11% now, 11% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing27,820 people
- Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing2,780 people
- Scientific Research and Development Services280 people
- Employment Services220 people
- Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing50 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Semiconductor Processing Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 20% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 20% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Semiconductor Processing Technicians come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals (100% of the task's time now); Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports (100% of the task's time now); and Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Semiconductor Processing Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Etch, lap, polish, or grind wafers or ingots to form circuitry and change conductive properties, using etching, lapping, polishing, or grinding equipment; Align photo mask pattern on photoresist layer, expose pattern to ultraviolet light, and develop pattern, using specialized equipment; and Inspect materials, components, or products for surface defects and measure circuitry, using electronic test equipment, precision measuring instruments, microscope, and standard procedures. Together such tasks are about 80% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Semiconductor Processing Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Semiconductor Processing Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 75% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 75% of the working time, 59% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.35 of 3. One example: Daifuku Cleanway AMHS (OHT / clean stocker) for "etch, lap, polish, or grind wafers or ingots to form circuitry and change conductive properties, using etching, lapping, polishing, or grinding equipment". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 17 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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