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AI exposure Office and administrative support

Will AI replace payroll and timekeeping clerks?

Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks. US occupation 43-3051.

4.9%

of the time payroll and timekeeping clerks spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of payroll and timekeeping clerks' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.

Ranked 252 of 756 US occupations. More exposed than 66% of them.Further along than 66% of them.

Average US job 7.7%

Around the middle of the pack.Keeping pace with the average job.

What AI already does for payroll and timekeeping clerksWhat payroll and timekeeping clerks no longer do alone

O*NET lists 21 tasks for payroll and timekeeping clerks. AI use at work shows up in 1 of them. Each score runs from 0.5, where every observed use helps a person with the task, to 1, where every use does the task outright.

  1. Provide information to employees and managers on payroll matters, tax issues, benefit plans, and collective agreement provisions.Core task mostly automated 0.86

What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human

20 of the 21 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.

  • Compile employee time, production, and payroll data from time sheets and other records.Core task
  • Complete time sheets showing employees' arrival and departure times.Core task
  • Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers.Core task
  • Conduct verifications of employment.Core task
  • Distribute and collect timecards each pay period.Core task
  • Issue and record adjustments to pay related to previous errors or retroactive increases.Core task
Show the other 14
  • Keep informed about changes in tax and deduction laws that apply to the payroll process.Core task
  • Keep track of leave time, such as vacation, personal, and sick leave, for employees.Core task
  • Prepare and balance period-end reports, and reconcile issued payrolls to bank statements.Core task
  • Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions.Core task
  • Process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system.Core task
  • Record employee information, such as exemptions, transfers, and resignations, to maintain and update payroll records.Core task
  • Review time sheets, work charts, wage computation, and other information to detect and reconcile payroll discrepancies.Core task
  • Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records.Core task
  • Balance cash and payroll accounts.
  • Compile statistical reports, statements, and summaries related to pay and benefits accounts, and submit them to appropriate departments.
  • Complete, verify, and process forms and documentation for administration of benefits, such as pension plans, and unemployment and medical insurance.
  • Coordinate special programs, such as United Way campaigns, that involve payroll deductions.
  • Prepare and file payroll tax returns.
  • Train employees on organizations' timekeeping systems.

How that compares

Among the 50 office and administrative support occupations, payroll and timekeeping clerks rank 35. The group averages 19.1%, and its most exposed job is Customer Service Representatives at 70.1%. The average US occupation sits at 7.7%.

All 756 occupations, ranked

Just above in the ranking

  1. 250Nuclear Medicine Technologists 5.1%
  2. 250Soil and Plant Scientists 5.1%
  3. 252Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers 4.9%

Just below

  1. 255Airfield Operations Specialists 4.8%
  2. 255Construction and Building Inspectors 4.8%
  3. 255Medical Assistants 4.8%

What this does and does not mean

Exposure is observed use, not a forecast. Anthropic maps work conversations with Claude onto the tasks O*NET lists for each job and asks, of the tasks AI could speed up, which are actually being used for at work. A use that does the task outright counts in full and a use that assists a person counts half. The task scores are averaged into the occupation figure by the share of time spent on each task.

A high figure means AI is already part of how this work gets done. It does not mean anyone has been replaced. Anthropic's own reading of the labour market finds no systematic rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting exposed jobs.No measurable rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting these jobs. Gap years for everyone. Labor market impacts, 5 March 2026.

Task list and titles from O*NET 31.0 by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Scores from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Checked 1 November 2026. How the ranking works.