Receptionists
Receptionists receive and direct telephone calls and visitors to commercial, government and other establishments.
- Employees (UK)
- 185k
- Median annual pay
- £18,152
- Exposure score ?
- 2.2/10 Low 9.0/10 Very high strict reading, with tools is 9.0/10 with-tools reading, strict is 2.2/10
- Wage exposure
- £739m £3.02bn
Higher exposure than 84% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
A few tasks in this role are within reach of AI, mostly paperwork, scheduling and routine writing. The shape of the role stays the same, and some parts get faster.
If you are in this role
Pick the two or three most repetitive things in your week and try a model on them. Most people underestimate what Claude or ChatGPT already does with admin-shaped work. The time you get back is the gain.
Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's models. Roles like this are being rebuilt, usually not by disappearing but by one person using AI to produce what several did.
If you are in this role
Be the person doing the rebuilding. People who learn to run this kind of work with AI become very valuable, and the ones who wait tend to have the change made for them.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Analyze data to determine answers to questions from customers or members of the public.
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Calculate and quote rates for tours, stocks, insurance policies, or other products or services.
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Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets, or other documents.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments.
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Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations.
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Receive payment and record receipts for services.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Receptionists and Information Clerks" (43-4171.00).
What AI can already do
4 of 18 tasks, unaided
Analyze data to determine answers to questions from customers or members of the public.
Calculate and quote rates for tours, stocks, insurance policies, or other products or services.
Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets, or other documents.
Process and prepare memos, correspondence, travel vouchers, or other documents.
What still needs a person
14 of 18 tasks
Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments.
Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations.
Receive payment and record receipts for services.
Schedule appointments and maintain and update appointment calendars.
Transmit information or documents to customers, using computer, mail, or facsimile machine.
Hear and resolve complaints from customers or the public.
File and maintain records.
Provide information about establishment, such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provided.
Collect, sort, distribute, or prepare mail, messages, or courier deliveries.
Keep a current record of staff members' whereabouts and availability.
Schedule space or equipment for special programs and prepare lists of participants.
Perform duties, such as taking care of plants or straightening magazines to maintain lobby or reception area.
Enroll individuals to participate in programs and notify them of their acceptance.
Take orders for merchandise or materials and send them to the proper departments to be filled.
Tasks via O*NET "Receptionists and Information Clerks" (43-4171.00).
What AI can already do
16 of 18 tasks, with tools
Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments.
Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations.
Receive payment and record receipts for services.
Schedule appointments and maintain and update appointment calendars.
Analyze data to determine answers to questions from customers or members of the public.
Calculate and quote rates for tours, stocks, insurance policies, or other products or services.
Transmit information or documents to customers, using computer, mail, or facsimile machine.
Hear and resolve complaints from customers or the public.
File and maintain records.
Provide information about establishment, such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provided.
Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets, or other documents.
Keep a current record of staff members' whereabouts and availability.
Schedule space or equipment for special programs and prepare lists of participants.
Process and prepare memos, correspondence, travel vouchers, or other documents.
Enroll individuals to participate in programs and notify them of their acceptance.
Take orders for merchandise or materials and send them to the proper departments to be filled.
What still needs a person
2 of 18 tasks
Collect, sort, distribute, or prepare mail, messages, or courier deliveries.
Perform duties, such as taking care of plants or straightening magazines to maintain lobby or reception area.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Administrative and secretarial occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons