Will AI replace production, planning, and expediting clerks?

Unlikely, though parts of the work are changing. About 44m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by AI working on its own. The other 7h 16m (91%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 1.3% fewer of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 2 of 17 tasks, about 44m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Examine documents, materials, or products and monitor work processes to assess completeness, accuracy, and conformance to standards and specifications. (25m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Calculate figures, such as required amounts of labor or materials, manufacturing costs, or wages, using pricing schedules, adding machines, calculators, or computers. (19m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)

7h 16m of a typical shift, or 91%, 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:

• Revise production schedules when required due to design changes, labor or material shortages, backlogs, or other interruptions, collaborating with management, marketing, sales, production, or engineering. (50m a shift)
• Confer with establishment personnel, vendors, or customers to coordinate production or shipping activities and to resolve complaints or eliminate delays. (50m a shift)
• Review documents, such as production schedules, work orders, or staffing tables, to determine personnel or materials requirements or material priorities. (44m a shift)
• Arrange for delivery, assembly, or distribution of supplies or parts to expedite flow of materials and meet production schedules. (37m a shift)
• Confer with department supervisors or other personnel to assess progress and discuss needed changes. (37m 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:

• 92% talk face to face with others every day
• 65% are in constant contact with other people
• 54% say dealing with the public is very or extremely important

We track 1 sourced company move that affects this job. Most recent:

• Jul 23, 2026: Plataine shows AI agents that reschedule composites production (Announced)

For the 2 tasks in this job where AI shows up and timing data exists, a typical request takes about 3h 46m for a person alone and about 30m with AI. These are Claude's own estimates from real conversations in April and May 2026 (Anthropic Economic Index). They describe single requests, not whole workdays, and time saved on a task doesn't mean jobs are cut. The biggest gaps:

• Examine documents, materials, or products and monitor work processes to assess completeness, accuracy, and conformance to standards and specifications (about 4h 29m alone, 28m with AI)
• Calculate figures, such as required amounts of labor or materials, manufacturing costs, or wages, using pricing schedules, adding machines, calculators, or computers (about 3h 2m alone, 31m with AI)

On Indeed, job postings in the Logistic Support sector are at 119% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 5.1% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 33,000 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 $59,650 a year ($28.68 an hour), 17% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $40,080 and $86,000 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 a decline of 1.3% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 387,000 jobs in 2035. Even so, it expects about 33,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 390,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.25% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 107th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 387,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 37% 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: Time Management, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Writing
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 16m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Excel
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

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:

• Project Management Specialists (1h 20m touched, $102k median pay)
• Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks (50m touched, $45k median pay)
• First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand (2h 12m touched, $63k median pay)
• First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers (11m touched, $74k median pay)
• Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping (1h 36m touched, $46k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 2 observed in real AI use, 15 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.