Telemarketers
Solicit donations or orders for goods or services over the telephone.
58,430 people do this job in the US. $35,450 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 100%
- 0%
- 0%
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, 27%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 99%. Today's estimate: 99%.
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 . 12 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain records of contacts, accounts, and orders.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 24% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Adjust sales scripts to better target the needs and interests of specific individuals.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 14% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Obtain names and telephone numbers of potential customers from sources such as telephone directories, magazine reply cards, and lists purchased from other organizations.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Explain products or services and prices, and answer questions from customers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 9% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Obtain customer information such as name, address, and payment method, and enter orders into computers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 8% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Deliver prepared sales talks, reading from scripts that describe products or services, to persuade potential customers to purchase a product or service or to make a donation.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Contact businesses or private individuals by telephone to solicit sales for goods or services, or to request donations for charitable causes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 8 min4 min to 21 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Answer telephone calls from potential customers who have been solicited through advertisements.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Telephone or write letters to respond to correspondence from customers or to follow up initial sales contacts.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 10 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Record names, addresses, purchases, and reactions of prospects contacted.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 4 min2 min to 8 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Conduct client or market surveys to obtain information about potential customers.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Schedule appointments for sales representatives to meet with prospective customers or for customers to attend sales presentations.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 0.8% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%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.
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel69% now, 88% by 2028
- Customer Service Representatives67% now, 67% by 2028
- Advertising Sales Agents54% now, 86% by 2028
- Counter and Rental Clerks53% now, 53% by 2028
- Receptionists and Information Clerks83% now, 84% by 2028
- New Accounts Clerks61% now, 61% 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).