AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 17-2112.01

Will AI replace Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists?

Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists: AI can already handle 8 of 26 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.

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Every task, scored

The 26 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists, from most to least exposed. 8 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.

Task AI exposure Evidence Model tier Importance
Prepare reports or presentations summarizing results or conclusions of human factors engineering or ergonomics activities, such as testing, investigation, or validation. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.4
Assess the user-interface or usability characteristics of products. 74 Observed Standard 4.3
Review health, safety, accident, or worker compensation records to evaluate safety program effectiveness or to identify jobs with high incidence of injury. 65 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Design or evaluate human work systems, using human factors engineering and ergonomic principles to optimize usability, cost, quality, safety, or performance. 65 Estimated Standard 4.2
Conduct research to evaluate potential solutions related to changes in equipment design, procedures, manpower, personnel, or training. 65 Estimated Efficient 4.0
Develop or implement research methodologies or statistical analysis plans to test and evaluate developmental prototypes used in new products or processes, such as cockpit designs, user workstations, or computerized human models. 65 Estimated Frontier 3.8
Write, review, or comment on documents, such as proposals, test plans, or procedures. 65 Observed Efficient 4.2
Recommend workplace changes to improve health and safety, using knowledge of potentially harmful factors, such as heavy loads or repetitive motions. 60 Estimated Frontier 4.4
Advocate for end users in collaboration with other professionals, including engineers, designers, managers, or customers. 50 Estimated Standard 4.5
Provide human factors technical expertise on topics, such as advanced user-interface technology development or the role of human users in automated or autonomous sub-systems in advanced vehicle systems. 50 Estimated Frontier 3.9
Estimate time or resource requirements for ergonomic or human factors research or development projects. 50 Estimated Frontier 3.6
Design cognitive aids, such as procedural storyboards or decision support systems. 50 Estimated Efficient 3.5
Analyze complex systems to determine potential for further development, production, interoperability, compatibility, or usefulness in a particular area, such as aviation. 50 Estimated Efficient 3.5
Investigate theoretical or conceptual issues, such as the human design considerations of lunar landers or habitats. 50 Estimated Efficient 3.4
Collect data through direct observation of work activities or witnessing the conduct of tests. 45 Estimated Efficient 4.7
Conduct interviews or surveys of users or customers to collect information on topics, such as requirements, needs, fatigue, ergonomics, or interfaces. 45 Estimated Efficient 4.5
Perform functional, task, or anthropometric analysis, using tools, such as checklists, surveys, videotaping, or force measurement. 45 Estimated Efficient 4.3
Provide technical support to clients through activities, such as rearranging workplace fixtures to reduce physical hazards or discomfort or modifying task sequences to reduce cycle time. 45 Estimated Frontier 4.3
Integrate human factors requirements into operational hardware. 45 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Perform statistical analyses, such as social network pattern analysis, network modeling, discrete event simulation, agent-based modeling, statistical natural language processing, computational sociology, mathematical optimization, or systems dynamics. 45 Estimated Frontier 3.4
Operate testing equipment, such as heat stress meters, octave band analyzers, motion analysis equipment, inclinometers, light meters, thermoanemometers, sling psychrometers, or colorimetric detection tubes. 45 Estimated Standard 3.4
Apply modeling or quantitative analysis to forecast events, such as human decisions or behaviors, the structure or processes of organizations, or the attitudes or actions of human groups. 45 Estimated Frontier 3.2
Develop or implement human performance research, investigation, or analysis protocols. 40 Observed Efficient 3.8
Establish system operating or training requirements to ensure optimized human-machine interfaces. 35 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Train users in task techniques or ergonomic principles. 35 Estimated Efficient 4.0
Inspect work sites to identify physical hazards. 20 Estimated Efficient 4.5

Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 3 of 26 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 23 of 26. 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 frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% 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
365,740
Median annual wage
$102,440
Middle half of earners
$83,600 to $129,250
Projected change, 2024 to 2034
+11.0%

Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.

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.

Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.

Questions about Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists and AI

Will AI replace Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists?

AI already handles 8 of the 26 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 51 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 +11.0% from 2024 to 2034.

What is the AI exposure of Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists?

51 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 26 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 23 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.

Which Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists tasks can AI already do?

The tasks with the highest exposure are: Prepare reports or presentations summarizing results or conclusions of human factors engineering or ergonomics activities, such as testing, investigation, or validation; Assess the user-interface or usability characteristics of products; Review health, safety, accident, or worker compensation records to evaluate safety program effectiveness or to identify jobs with high incidence of injury. They are three of the 8 tasks that reach 60 or more.

What AI model tier does this role need?

A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% 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 Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists, and what do they earn?

365,740 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $102,440 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +11.0% 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: Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists. 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/human-factors-engineers-and-ergonomists

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