Cartographers and surveyors
A substantial share of tasks can be sped up or taken over by AI. The content of the job will noticeably change — learning is cheapest now.
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 44/100 indicates substantial augmentation, not job loss. Field surveying remains less automatable, while digital records and map revision change most. The broader professional group is projected to grow 11.7% by 2035.
What changes
- Automated structuring and validation of digitally recorded survey data
- Faster map compilation and revision from imagery, documents and datasets
- AI-assisted analysis of cadastral, photogrammetric and land information systems
What stays human
- Conducting reliable measurements across difficult land, underground and underwater environments
- Judging legal, technical and economic implications of mapping decisions
- Coordinating with engineers, planners, authorities and other specialists
What to learn
- Learn AI-assisted GIS workflows with rigorous spatial-data quality control
- Strengthen photogrammetry, remote sensing and satellite-imagery interpretation
- Build expertise in cadastral standards, uncertainty assessment and field verification
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).
- Noting exact position of various features and recording survey data in digital form60
- Designing, compiling and revising maps and charts using aerial and other photographs, satellite imagery, survey documents and data, existing maps and records, reports and statistics53
- Studying and advising on technical, aesthetic and economic aspects of map production50
- Undertaking research and development of surveying and photogrammetric measurement systems, cadastral systems and land information systems49
- Making charts and maps to be used in determining navigable waters and channels and in planning construction of marine structures41
- Maintaining technical liaison and consultancy with other relevant specialists.39
- Planning and conducting aerial photographic surveys38
- Surveying, measuring and describing land surfaces, mines, underground surfaces, sea, river and lake beds22
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.
- Noting exact position of various features and recording survey data in digital form(60)
- Designing, compiling and revising maps and charts using aerial and other photographs, satellite imagery, survey documents and data, existing maps and records, reports and statistics(53)
- Studying and advising on technical, aesthetic and economic aspects of map production(50)
- Undertaking research and development of surveying and photogrammetric measurement systems, cadastral systems and land information systems(49)
- Making charts and maps to be used in determining navigable waters and channels and in planning construction of marine structures(41)
- Maintaining technical liaison and consultancy with other relevant specialists.(39)
- Planning and conducting aerial photographic surveys(38)
- Surveying, measuring and describing land surfaces, mines, underground surfaces, sea, river and lake beds(22)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 44.)
About 38% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Noting exact position of various features and recording survey data in digital form
- • Designing, compiling and revising maps and charts using aerial and other photographs, satellite imagery, survey documents and data, existing maps and records, reports and statistics
- • Surveying, measuring and describing land surfaces, mines, underground surfaces, sea, river and lake beds
- • Planning and conducting aerial photographic surveys
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?