Chemical and physical science technicians
In the ILO's assessment few of the job's tasks can be done by generative AI, or the scores are too spread out to reach gradient 1 — generative AI does not meaningfully take over the core of the work.
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?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
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).
- Controlling the quality and quantity of laboratory supplies by testing samples and monitoring usage and preparing detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for projects, according to the specifications given41
- Setting up, operating, and maintaining laboratory instruments and equipment, monitoring experiments, making observations, and calculating and recording results29
- Collecting and testing earth and water samples, recording observations and analysing data in support of geologists or geophysicists.27
- Carrying out routine laboratory tests and performing a variety of technical support functions to assist chemical and physical scientists in research, development, analysis and testing26
- Collecting samples and preparing materials and equipment for experiments, tests and analyses17
- Preparing materials for experimentation such as freezing and slicing specimens and mixing chemicals15
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.
- Controlling the quality and quantity of laboratory supplies by testing samples and monitoring usage and preparing detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for projects, according to the specifications given(41)
- Setting up, operating, and maintaining laboratory instruments and equipment, monitoring experiments, making observations, and calculating and recording results(29)
- Collecting and testing earth and water samples, recording observations and analysing data in support of geologists or geophysicists.(27)
- Carrying out routine laboratory tests and performing a variety of technical support functions to assist chemical and physical scientists in research, development, analysis and testing(26)
- Collecting samples and preparing materials and equipment for experiments, tests and analyses(17)
- Preparing materials for experimentation such as freezing and slicing specimens and mixing chemicals(15)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 26.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Controlling the quality and quantity of laboratory supplies by testing samples and monitoring usage and preparing detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for projects, according to the specifications given
- • Setting up, operating, and maintaining laboratory instruments and equipment, monitoring experiments, making observations, and calculating and recording results
- • Preparing materials for experimentation such as freezing and slicing specimens and mixing chemicals
- • Collecting samples and preparing materials and equipment for experiments, tests and analyses
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 associate 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 associate professionals |
|---|---|
| Slovakia | 5.4% · 140 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 4.9% · 222 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 4.8% · 141 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 4.8% · 254 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 4.7% · 247 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 4.7% · 143 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 4.5% · 77 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 4.4% · 214 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 4.1% · 1,722 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 3.8% · 902 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 3.7% · 635 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 3.7% · 95 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 3.6% · 36 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 3.5% · 180 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 3.5% · 12 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 3.3% · 965 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 3.2% · 92 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 3.1% · 146 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 3.0% · 21 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 2.9% · 26 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 2.8% · 273 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 2.4% · 127 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 2.3% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 2.3% · 517 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 2.1% · 31 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 1.9% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 1.9% · 642 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 1.7% · 47 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 1.4% · 106 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 1.2% · 54 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Technicians and associate 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.
- Switzerland5,280
- Luxembourg4,320
- Norway4,307
- Denmark4,301
- Ireland4,024
- Belgium3,903
- Iceland3,856
- Germany3,608
- Austria3,399
- Netherlands3,247
- EU273,226
- Italy3,127
- Sweden3,089
- Finland2,971
- France2,687
- Spain2,685
- Slovenia2,660
- Cyprus2,537
- Lithuania2,472
- Malta2,464
- Romania2,310
- Poland2,294
- Czechia2,275
- Estonia2,251
- Croatia2,127
- Latvia2,081
- Hungary2,054
- Greece2,050
- Portugal2,044
- Slovakia2,027
- Bulgaria1,738
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 associate 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
- Electronics engineering technicians38
- Draughtspersons35
- Chemical engineering technicians32
- Civil engineering technicians28
- Mining and metallurgical technicians28
- Electrical engineering technicians27
- Mechanical engineering technicians26
- Physical and engineering science technicians not elsewhere classified26
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?