A Leanpreneur tool

How much UK work is AI doing already?

A map of every UK occupation. Find your role, see what AI can already do unaided, what it can do with the right tools, and what still needs a human.

Direct replacement
£107.2bn
UK wages an LLM could already do unaided today.
With tools
£558.32bn
When LLMs are paired with workflow tools. Closer to 2026 reality.

That's the spread between what AI can do today on its own and what it can do once you point it at the right context. Same data, two readings. The map below defaults to the strict reading; the toggle flips it.

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21.0m
employees in view
1.4/10
wage-weighted avg exposure
direct-replacement (α) · other: 7.2/10
employment by exposure band
Direct (α)
78%
11%
7%
With tools (γ)
13%
10%
13%
15%
49%
Minimal 0–2Low 2–4Moderate 4–6High 6–8Very high 8–10
Almost no role hits 8+ under α because senior-judgment tasks aren't labelled "direct LLM replacement". The γ row shows the fuller picture — roughly 4 in 10 employee jobs sit at 8+ when LLM-with-tools is counted.
Reading the colours as:
Showing what an LLM can do unaided today. The strict reading.
Managers, directors and senior officialsProfessional occupationsAssociate professional occupationsAdministrative and secreta…Sales and customer service o…Elementary occupationsSkilled trades occupati…Process, plant and …Caring, leisure and other service occupationsFinancial managers and directors 430k employees · median £65,336 · exposure 0.0/10Financial managers and direc…430k · 0.0/10Production managers and directors in manufacturing 479k employees · median £52,885 · exposure 0.7/10Production managers and dire…479k · 0.7/10Marketing, sales and advertising directors 216k employees · median £90,000 · exposure 0.3/10Marketing, sales and a…216k · 0.3/10Managers and directors in retail and wholesale 336k employees · median £36,006 · exposure 0.0/10Managers and directors…336k · 0.0/10Chief executives and senior officials 133k employees · median £89,835 · exposure 0.4/10Chief executives and s…133k · 0.4/10Functional managers and directors n.e.c. 136k employees · median £69,996 · exposure 0.7/10Functional …136k · 0.7/10Human resource managers and directors 171k employees · median £54,474 · exposure 0.7/10Human resou…171k · 0.7/10Production managers and directors in construction 102k employees · median £54,947 · exposure 0.4/10Production …102k · 0.4/10Information technology directors 60k employees · median £90,081 · exposure 1.2/10Infor…Property, housing and estate managers 118k employees · median £41,115 · exposure 0.3/10Prop…Health services and public health managers and directors 64k employees · median £55,879 · exposure 0.0/10Managers in storage and warehousing 95k employees · median £36,620 · exposure 0.2/10Other Managers, directors and senior officials (17 smaller occupations) 453k employees · weighted median £45,661 · avg exposure 0.6/10Other Managers,17 roles · 453k · 0.6/10Other registered nursing professionals 720k employees · median £36,775 · exposure 0.4/10Other registered nursing …720k · 0.4/10Secondary education teaching professionals 466k employees · median £44,246 · exposure 0.3/10Secondary education teach…466k · 0.3/10Business and financial project management professionals 291k employees · median £57,874 · exposure 0.8/10Business and financial pr…291k · 0.8/10Primary education teaching professionals 400k employees · median £42,031 · exposure 0.7/10Primary education teachin…400k · 0.7/10Management consultants and business analysts 241k employees · median £51,729 · exposure 0.8/10Management cons…241k · 0.8/10IT managers 213k employees · median £55,502 · exposure 1.2/10IT managers213k · 1.2/10Higher education teaching professionals 246k employees · median £46,494 · exposure 1.9/10Higher educatio…246k · 1.9/10Finance and investment analysts and advisers 197k employees · median £47,776 · exposure 0.2/10Finance and inv…197k · 0.2/10Engineering professionals n.e.c. 148k employees · median £47,985 · exposure 1.8/10Engineering pro…148k · 1.8/10Solicitors and lawyers 127k employees · median £53,314 · exposure 0.0/10Solicit…Quality assurance and regulatory professionals 129k employees · median £47,969 · exposure 0.8/10Qualit…Marketing and commercial managers 100k employees · median £50,589 · exposure 4.3/10Mark…Registered nurse practitioners 114k employees · median £41,392 · exposure 0.4/10Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c. 83k employees · median £55,106 · exposure 2.3/10Social workers 105k employees · median £42,708 · exposure 0.7/10Head teachers and principals 63k employees · median £70,977 · exposure 0.3/10Head t…Research and development (r&d) managers 81k employees · median £54,857 · exposure 0.9/10Resear…Business and related research professionals 99k employees · median £39,941 · exposure 2.3/10Busine…Other health professionals n.e.c. 91k employees · median £38,033 · exposure 1.0/10Other …Chartered and certified accountants 75k employees · median £45,538 · exposure 1.5/10Charte…Other Professional occupations (57 smaller occupations) 1.9m employees · weighted median £42,175 · avg exposure 1.3/10Other Professional57 roles · 1.9m · 1.3/10Sales accounts and business development managers 415k employees · median £56,021 · exposure 0.3/10Sales accounts …415k · 0.3/10Business sales executives 165k employees · median £36,498 · exposure 1.3/10Business sales …165k · 1.3/10Financial accounts managers 129k employees · median £45,162 · exposure 5.7/10Financial accou…129k · 5.7/10Science, engineering and production technicians n.e.c. 146k employees · median £34,475 · exposure 1.3/10Science, engine…Human resources and industrial relations officers 138k employees · median £33,012 · exposure 1.6/10Human resources…Other vocational and industrial trainers 125k employees · median £33,236 · exposure 1.1/10Othe…Advertising and marketing associate professionals 133k employees · median £30,479 · exposure 4.3/10Adve…Welfare and housing associate professionals n.e.c. 146k employees · median £26,640 · exposure 2.1/10Engineering technicians 87k employees · median £44,330 · exposure 1.3/10Other Associate professional occupations (40 smaller occupations) 1.6m employees · weighted median £33,608 · avg exposure 2.4/10Other Associate40 roles · 1.6m · 2.4/10Other administrative occupations n.e.c. 728k employees · median £23,385 · exposure 6.9/10Other administra…728k · 6.9/10Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks 272k employees · median £27,743 · exposure 6.5/10Book-…Office managers 195k employees · median £35,000 · exposure 0.8/10Office …Personal assistants and other secretaries 164k employees · median £25,233 · exposure 3.2/10National government administrative occupations 131k employees · median £31,363 · exposure 3.3/10Records clerks and assistants 139k employees · median £26,312 · exposure 3.9/10Receptionists 185k employees · median £18,152 · exposure 2.2/10Other Administrative and secretarial occupations (17 smaller occupations) 747k employees · weighted median £27,975 · avg exposure 3.2/10Other Administrative17 roles · 747k · 3.2/10Sales and retail assistants 895k employees · median £14,491 · exposure 1.4/10Sales and r…895k · 1.4/10Customer service occupations n.e.c. 299k employees · median £24,438 · exposure 5.8/10Customer serv…299k · 5.8/10Other Sales and customer service occupations (11 smaller occupations) 308k employees · weighted median £24,328 · avg exposure 2.1/10Other Sales11 roles · 308k · 2.1/10Warehouse operatives 449k employees · median £26,574 · exposure 0.7/10Warehouse …449k · 0.7/10Cleaners and domestics 411k employees · median £11,852 · exposure 0.2/10Cleaners a…411k · 0.2/10Kitchen and catering assistants 322k employees · median £11,840 · exposure 0.1/10Kitch…Postal workers, mail sorters and messengers 116k employees · median £29,761 · exposure 1.8/10Posta…Other Elementary occupations (18 smaller occupations) 675k employees · weighted median £21,038 · avg exposure 0.8/10Other Elementary18 roles · 675k · 0.8/10Metal working production and maintenance fitters and technicians 223k employees · median £40,002 · exposure 0.7/10Metal work…223k · 0.7/10Chefs 152k employees · median £26,531 · exposure 1.4/10Electricians and electrical fitters 97k employees · median £39,187 · exposure 1.3/10Vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians 98k employees · median £36,560 · exposure 0.4/10Other Skilled trades occupations (34 smaller occupations) 822k employees · weighted median £34,481 · avg exposure 0.8/10Other Skilled34 roles · 822k · 0.8/10Heavy and large goods vehicle drivers 204k employees · median £39,141 · exposure 1.8/10Heavy and …204k · 1.8/10Food, drink and tobacco process operatives 147k employees · median £27,267 · exposure 0.8/10Other Process, plant and machine operatives (30 smaller occupations) 880k employees · weighted median £32,313 · avg exposure 1.5/10Other Process,30 roles · 880k · 1.5/10Other Caring, leisure and other service occupations (15 smaller occupations) 512k employees · weighted median £23,016 · avg exposure 1.1/10
Exposure (0–10)

The map view is best on a wider screen. Here's the same data as a list — search or sort to find your role, then tap through.

299 roles

  1. Data entry administrators16k employees · median £26,5347.9/10
  2. Communication operators15k employees · median £34,9347.0/10
  3. Sales administrators49k employees · median £27,1326.9/10
  4. Other administrative occupations n.e.c.728k employees · median £23,3856.9/10
  5. Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks272k employees · median £27,7436.5/10
  6. Project support officers71k employees · median £34,2076.4/10
  7. Data analysts68k employees · median £38,1076.4/10
  8. Business associate professionals n.e.c.99k employees · median £33,0356.4/10
  9. Health care practice managers15k employees · median £38,9416.0/10
  10. Medical secretaries43k employees · median £24,0716.0/10
  11. Telephone salespersons9k employees · median £26,9446.0/10
  12. Customer service occupations n.e.c.299k employees · median £24,4385.8/10
  13. Financial and accounting technicians29k employees · median £53,2655.7/10
  14. Financial accounts managers129k employees · median £45,1625.7/10
  15. Authors, writers and translators20k employees · median £36,8655.4/10
  16. Elementary administration occupations n.e.c.23k employees · median £23,0054.7/10
  17. Security system installers and repairers9k employees · median £37,9914.4/10
  18. Marketing and commercial managers100k employees · median £50,5894.3/10
  19. Advertising accounts managers and creative directors31k employees · median £46,3564.3/10
  20. Advertising and marketing associate professionals133k employees · median £30,4794.3/10
  21. Finance officers28k employees · median £28,6103.9/10
  22. Financial administrative occupations n.e.c.98k employees · median £25,9363.9/10
  23. Records clerks and assistants139k employees · median £26,3123.9/10
  24. Pensions and insurance clerks and assistants35k employees · median £29,3293.9/10
  25. Bus and coach drivers83k employees · median £33,9473.9/10
  26. Actuaries, economists and statisticians43k employees · median £51,5203.8/10
  27. Legal secretaries22k employees · median £24,2633.7/10
  28. Library clerks and assistants18k employees · median £18,6593.6/10
  29. Electronics engineers (professional)17k employees · median £51,9733.5/10
  30. Telecoms and related network installers and repairers25k employees · median £39,6523.5/10
  31. Newspaper, periodical and broadcast editors26k employees · median £41,5833.4/10
  32. Newspaper and periodical broadcast journalists and reporters17k employees · median £42,1693.4/10
  33. Transport and distribution clerks and assistants55k employees · median £32,0603.4/10
  34. National government administrative occupations131k employees · median £31,3633.3/10
  35. Local government administrative occupations59k employees · median £27,6423.3/10
  36. School secretaries23k employees · median £22,1553.3/10
  37. Personal assistants and other secretaries164k employees · median £25,2333.2/10
  38. Pharmaceutical technicians27k employees · median £28,3812.9/10
  39. Pharmacy and optical dispensing assistants47k employees · median £17,9932.9/10
  40. Train and tram drivers26k employees · median £76,1762.8/10
  41. Debt, rent and other cash collectors10k employees · median £27,4542.7/10
  42. Environmental health professionals10k employees · median £40,0442.6/10
  43. Health and safety managers and officers66k employees · median £44,5512.6/10
  44. Human resources administrative occupations19k employees · median £25,5312.6/10
  45. Sales related occupations n.e.c.20k employees · median £28,8702.6/10
  46. Routine inspectors and testers36k employees · median £33,9822.6/10
  47. Bank and post office clerks66k employees · median £27,6712.5/10
  48. Electrical engineers35k employees · median £59,9302.4/10
  49. Credit controllers24k employees · median £26,9812.4/10
  50. Business and related research professionals99k employees · median £39,9412.3/10
  51. Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c.83k employees · median £55,1062.3/10
  52. Public relations professionals39k employees · median £36,3362.3/10
  53. Public services associate professionals82k employees · median £38,4542.3/10
  54. Receptionists185k employees · median £18,1522.2/10
  55. Youth and community workers102k employees · median £27,7112.1/10
  56. Child and early years officers53k employees · median £29,3472.1/10
  57. Housing officers45k employees · median £32,5422.1/10
  58. Welfare and housing associate professionals n.e.c.146k employees · median £26,6402.1/10
  59. Printers8k employees · median £31,3672.1/10
  60. Retail cashiers and check-out operators51k employees · median £14,0182.1/10
  61. Printing machine assistants10k employees · median £29,6572.1/10
  62. Leisure and sports managers and proprietors32k employees · median £33,3422.0/10
  63. Midwifery nurses46k employees · median £39,3272.0/10
  64. Prison service officers (below principal officer)9k employees · median £31,6032.0/10
  65. Production and process engineers53k employees · median £47,7111.9/10
  66. Higher education teaching professionals246k employees · median £46,4941.9/10
  67. Special and additional needs education teaching professionals37k employees · median £40,3631.9/10
  68. Electrical and electronics technicians16k employees · median £35,0181.9/10
  69. Stock control clerks and assistants69k employees · median £28,8511.9/10
  70. Engineering project managers and project engineers63k employees · median £52,4511.8/10
  71. Engineering professionals n.e.c.148k employees · median £47,9851.8/10
  72. Quantity surveyors38k employees · median £51,9501.8/10
  73. Clergy41k employees · median £30,6551.8/10
  74. Quality control and planning engineers50k employees · median £42,5111.8/10
  75. Call and contact centre occupations35k employees · median £25,4401.8/10
  76. Assemblers (vehicles and metal goods)40k employees · median £31,0411.8/10
  77. Assemblers and routine operatives n.e.c.53k employees · median £26,9751.8/10
  78. Heavy and large goods vehicle drivers204k employees · median £39,1411.8/10
  79. Postal workers, mail sorters and messengers116k employees · median £29,7611.8/10
  80. Education advisers and school inspectors22k employees · median £41,5351.7/10

Showing the top 80 — refine the search to find a specific role.

Each tile is a UK occupation. Area shows the total wage bill (employees × median pay). Colour shows AI exposure on a 0–10 scale. The biggest 60 occupations are named; smaller ones within each major group are collapsed into an "Other [group]" tile to keep the map legible. Click any named tile to see the underlying tasks.

Why do solicitors, CEOs, and marketing directors look low-exposure?

Exposure is task-level. Senior roles are dominated by decision-making, relationship work, and judgment calls - the things Eloundou's annotators correctly label "not direct LLM replacement". But those same roles do a lot of drafting, analysis and review where AI helps massively. The α reading is strict; the γ reading (shown in the stats row and on each role page) captures the with-tools picture. For solicitors that's α=0.0 / γ=8.5 - near the top of the range when you include AI with the firm's own documents, templates and search.

One honest caveat: the underlying task labels were made in 2023 against early GPT-4. Frontier models can do materially more in 2026, so even γ is probably a floor on what's possible today. A fresh Claude-scored re-rating is on the roadmap (methodology).

How to read it

Each tile is an occupation. Bigger tile = more employees × pay. Darker colour = higher exposure to AI on a 0–10 scale. Click a tile for the underlying tasks.

Scores come from Eloundou et al (2023), who labelled ~19,000 O*NET work tasks by how much a language model can do them. The tile colours use the strict "direct replacement" reading (0–10 per occupation). The big headline at the top uses a more generous reading that includes tasks an LLM can do when paired with tools, which is closer to how AI is actually being used in 2026.

Employment and pay come from ONS ASHE 2025. That covers employees only - self- employed workers aren't in the wage bill, so freelance-heavy trades are under-weighted.

Read it as a map, not a verdict. A high score doesn't mean the role disappears. It means a lot of the task inventory is touchable by AI, and that the useful question is "which of my tasks can I stop doing, and what do I do with the time." That's what the drilldowns and the community are for.

Full methodology → · Download the technical PDF

Top 10 UK occupations by wage exposure

Wage exposure equals exposure score × employees × median gross annual pay. Not "roles that will disappear" - these are the places where the most money meets the most exposure.

  1. Other administrative occupations n.e.c.† £11.75bn · 6.9/10
  2. Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks £4.90bn · 6.5/10
  3. Customer service occupations n.e.c.† £4.24bn · 5.8/10
  4. Financial accounts managers £3.32bn · 5.7/10
  5. Marketing and commercial managers £2.18bn · 4.3/10
  6. Higher education teaching professionals £2.17bn · 1.9/10
  7. Business associate professionals n.e.c.† £2.09bn · 6.4/10
  8. Sales and retail assistants £1.82bn · 1.4/10
  9. Production managers and directors in manufacturing £1.77bn · 0.7/10
  10. Advertising and marketing associate professionals £1.74bn · 4.3/10

† Residual SOC 2020 categories - "not elsewhere classified". They aggregate smaller occupations that don't fit the named unit groups, so a high score is an average across a mixed bag of task types. Treat with appropriate suspicion.

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Browse all 412 occupations →

Sources and methodology

  • ONS SOC 2020 Volume 1 — structure and descriptions of unit groups · 2025-12-03 · OGL v3.0
  • ONS SOC 2020 Volume 2 — coding index (contains SOC 2020 ↔ ISCO-08) · 2025-12-03 · OGL v3.0
  • O*NET 30.2 database (tab-delimited, ZIP) · 30.2 · CC BY 4.0
  • Eloundou et al — per-task AI exposure scores (full_labelset.tsv, alpha = direct exposure) · 0471612f (pinned) · MIT (repo)
  • US BLS — ISCO-08 ↔ US SOC 2010 crosswalk · 2012 (crosswalk current) · Public Domain (US Government work)
  • ONS ASHE Table 14 — occupation (4-digit SOC 2020), 2025 provisional (includes employment count and gross annual pay) · 2025 provisional (released 2025-10-23) · OGL v3.0

Built 29 April 2026. Coverage 91.99% of UK SOC 2020 unit groups (379 of 412).