Geologists and geophysicists
AI can help with a few sub-tasks (emails, paperwork), but the core of the job doesn't change.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
🤖 Written with AIThis text was written by artificial intelligence from the data points shown; it is built on verified figures but may contain mistakes.· 13/10/2026How is it made?
Exposure score 36/100 indicates minimal exposure, mainly in analysis and documentation—not job loss. The broader professional group is projected to grow 11.7% by 2035, alongside substantial replacement demand.
What changes
- Drafting geological reports, maps, charts and diagrams from research data
- Processing magnetic-field data for navigation, broadcasting and related applications
- Analysing measurements of sea–atmosphere properties and thermal-energy exchange
What stays human
- Field interpretation of rocks, formations, deposits and site-specific conditions
- Engineering judgement for dams, tunnels, buildings and land-reclamation risks
- Accountable advice on contamination, waste management and site selection
What to learn
- Build advanced GIS, geospatial visualisation and reproducible data-analysis skills
- Learn to validate AI-assisted remote-sensing and geophysical interpretations
- Strengthen engineering geology, environmental regulation and risk-communication expertise
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Charting the Earth's magnetic field and applying this and other collected data for broadcasting, navigation and other purposes51
- Studying and measuring physical properties of seas and the atmosphere and their inter-relationship, such as the exchange of thermal energy50
- Interpreting research data and preparing geological reports, maps, charts and diagrams, reports and papers49
- Advising in areas such as waste management, route and site selection and the restoration of contaminated sites.40
- Conducting research and improving or developing concepts, theories and operational methods related to geology and geophysics39
- Using various remote sensing programmes to investigate and measure seismic, gravitational, electrical, thermal, and magnetic forces affecting the Earth38
- Applying geological knowledge to problems encountered in civil engineering projects such as the construction of dams, bridges, tunnels, and large buildings; and land reclamation projects34
- Researching the movement, distribution and physical properties of ground and surface waters33
- Studying composition and structure of the Earth's crust, examining rocks, minerals, fossils and other materials to determine processes affecting the development of the Earth, trace evolution of past life, establish nature and chronology of geological formations and assess their commercial applications28
- Estimating weight, size and mass of the Earth and composition and structure of its interior, and studying the nature, activity and predictability of volcanoes, glaciers and earthquakes27
- Locating and determining the nature and extent of oil, gas and mineral deposits using seismological, gravimetric, magnetic, electrical or radiometric methods25
- Identifying deposits of construction materials and determining their characteristics and suitability for use as concrete aggregates, road fill or for other applications24
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Charting the Earth's magnetic field and applying this and other collected data for broadcasting, navigation and other purposes(51)
- Studying and measuring physical properties of seas and the atmosphere and their inter-relationship, such as the exchange of thermal energy(50)
- Interpreting research data and preparing geological reports, maps, charts and diagrams, reports and papers(49)
- Advising in areas such as waste management, route and site selection and the restoration of contaminated sites.(40)
- Conducting research and improving or developing concepts, theories and operational methods related to geology and geophysics(39)
- Using various remote sensing programmes to investigate and measure seismic, gravitational, electrical, thermal, and magnetic forces affecting the Earth(38)
- Applying geological knowledge to problems encountered in civil engineering projects such as the construction of dams, bridges, tunnels, and large buildings; and land reclamation projects(34)
- Researching the movement, distribution and physical properties of ground and surface waters(33)
- Studying composition and structure of the Earth's crust, examining rocks, minerals, fossils and other materials to determine processes affecting the development of the Earth, trace evolution of past life, establish nature and chronology of geological formations and assess their commercial applications(28)
- Estimating weight, size and mass of the Earth and composition and structure of its interior, and studying the nature, activity and predictability of volcanoes, glaciers and earthquakes(27)
- Locating and determining the nature and extent of oil, gas and mineral deposits using seismological, gravimetric, magnetic, electrical or radiometric methods(25)
- Identifying deposits of construction materials and determining their characteristics and suitability for use as concrete aggregates, road fill or for other applications(24)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 36.)
About 17% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Charting the Earth's magnetic field and applying this and other collected data for broadcasting, navigation and other purposes
- • Studying and measuring physical properties of seas and the atmosphere and their inter-relationship, such as the exchange of thermal energy
- • Identifying deposits of construction materials and determining their characteristics and suitability for use as concrete aggregates, road fill or for other applications
- • Locating and determining the nature and extent of oil, gas and mineral deposits using seismological, gravimetric, magnetic, electrical or radiometric methods
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Science and engineering professionals group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Science and engineering professionals |
|---|---|
| Finland | 6.3% · 163 thousand · 2025 |
| Luxembourg | 5.3% · 17 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 4.8% · 135 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 4.7% · 1,380 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 4.5% · 1,920 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 4.5% · 45 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 4.4% · 65 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 4.3% · 428 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 4.3% · 208 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 4.1% · 218 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 4.0% · 20 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 3.9% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 3.9% · 207 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 3.9% · 121 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 3.9% · 169 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 3.9% · 199 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 3.6% · 277 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 3.5% · 1,203 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 3.5% · 163 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 3.5% · 598 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 3.4% · 757 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 3.4% · 176 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 3.3% · 56 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 3.2% · 142 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 3.1% · 91 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 3.1% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 3.0% · 21 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 3.0% · 78 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 2.9% · 25 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 2.8% · 81 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 2.7% · 659 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Professionals). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland6,389
- Luxembourg5,274
- Ireland4,873
- Germany4,807
- Belgium4,799
- Denmark4,446
- Norway4,237
- Austria4,099
- Netherlands4,031
- Iceland3,875
- EU273,850
- France3,791
- Finland3,769
- Romania3,559
- Sweden3,416
- Spain3,413
- Slovenia3,326
- Italy3,305
- Cyprus3,271
- Lithuania3,221
- Croatia2,890
- Czechia2,871
- Malta2,825
- Poland2,783
- Hungary2,777
- Portugal2,755
- Latvia2,671
- Estonia2,599
- Bulgaria2,359
- Slovakia2,345
- Greece2,321
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Science and engineering professionals group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?