AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 41-1011.00
Will AI replace First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers?
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers: AI can already handle 4 of 21 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 21 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers, from most to least exposed. 4 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review inventory and sales records to prepare reports for management and budget departments. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Hire, train, and evaluate personnel in sales or marketing establishments, promoting or firing workers when appropriate. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Examine products purchased for resale or received for storage to assess the condition of each product or item. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Provide customer service by greeting and assisting customers and responding to customer inquiries and complaints. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Plan and prepare work schedules and keep records of employees' work schedules and time cards. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Plan budgets and authorize payments and merchandise returns. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Plan and coordinate advertising campaigns and sales promotions and prepare merchandise displays and advertising copy. | Observed | Standard | |
| Confer with company officials to develop methods and procedures to increase sales, expand markets, and promote business. | Observed | Standard | |
| Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or in performing services for customers. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Formulate pricing policies for merchandise, according to profitability requirements. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Examine merchandise to ensure that it is correctly priced and displayed and that it functions as advertised. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Monitor sales activities to ensure that customers receive satisfactory service and quality goods. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Instruct staff on how to handle difficult and complicated sales. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Assign employees to specific duties. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Keep records of purchases, sales, and requisitions. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Perform work activities of subordinates, such as cleaning and organizing shelves and displays and selling merchandise. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Inventory stock and reorder when inventory drops to a specified level. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Establish and implement policies, goals, objectives, and procedures for the department. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Establish credit policies and operating procedures. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Enforce safety, health, and security rules. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Estimate consumer demand and determine the types and amounts of goods to be sold. | Estimated | Efficient |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 3 of 21 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 18 of 21. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 86% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 1,121,800
- Median annual wage
- $48,520
- Middle half of earners
- $38,590 to $62,130
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- -5.0%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers 81% skill overlap, about 7 months to move Exposure54
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers 73% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure49
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure38
- First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers 68% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure35
- First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers 68% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure34
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers and AI
Will AI replace First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers?
AI already handles 4 of the 21 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 40 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by -5.0% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers?
40 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 3 of the 21 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 18 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Review inventory and sales records to prepare reports for management and budget departments; Hire, train, and evaluate personnel in sales or marketing establishments, promoting or firing workers when appropriate; Examine products purchased for resale or received for storage to assess the condition of each product or item. They are three of the 4 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 86% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers, and what do they earn?
1,121,800 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $48,520 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of -5.0% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/first-line-supervisors-of-retail-sales-workers
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