Will AI replace butchers and meat cutters?

Not on current evidence. Less than 30 minutes of a typical shift goes to tasks that AI or robots are doing today. The other 8h (100%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 2.4% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

None of this job's tasks show regular AI use yet. That can mean the work is hands-on or in person, or simply that it rarely comes up in AI usage data.

Not in workplaces like this one, based on a 2026 review of robot deployments. 7 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here.

8h of a typical shift, or 100%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, and fish, to prepare in cooking form. (3h 12m a shift)
• Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat. (1h 23m a shift)
• Prepare and place meat cuts and products in display counter to appear attractive and catch the shopper's eye. (1h 4m a shift)
• Prepare special cuts of meat ordered by customers. (45m a shift)
• Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery to ensure meat quality. (32m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 100% spend more than half the day on their feet
• 94% work at arm's length or closer to other people
• 93% use their hands on tools, objects or controls more than half the time

On Indeed, job postings in the Production & Manufacturing sector are at 124% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 12.6% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 15,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $40,140 a year ($19.30 an hour), 21% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $29,460 and $58,110 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 2.4% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 142,000 jobs in 2035. It expects about 15,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 136,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.09% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 232nd largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 142,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 70% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 2 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: high school diploma, some training. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Service Orientation, Time Management, Social Perceptiveness, Monitoring
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 8h of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word

Yes. Occupational experts recently added these to the official task list, a sign of how the work itself is shifting. New tasks aren't rated for AI or robots yet:

• Clean and sanitize meat cases and cutting equipment.

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Short Order Cooks (1h 36m touched, $36k median pay)
• Food Preparation Workers (49m touched, $35k median pay)
• Slaughterers and Meat Packers (1h 37m touched, $40k median pay)
• Restaurant Cooks (7m touched, $37k median pay)
• Bakers (19m touched, $37k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 11 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.