Messengers, package deliverers and luggage porters
Some tasks can be well supported by AI, but most still need human work. Transformation rather than replacement.
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 37/100, concentrated in route planning, sorting and baggage processing. Physical delivery remains less exposed. The broader group is projected to grow 11.4% through 2035.
What changes
- AI-assisted systems will increasingly optimize routes and delivery sequences.
- Automated tools will organize parcels by route and priority.
- Digital systems will streamline baggage marking and claim-check preparation.
What stays human
- Safely carrying luggage and packages through complex physical environments.
- Completing last-mile deliveries where access, timing and conditions vary.
- Resolving recipient, baggage and delivery exceptions face to face.
What to learn
- Learn route-optimization tools while retaining local navigation knowledge.
- Build proficiency with scanners, digital labels and tracking systems.
- Develop safe handling, customer communication and delivery-exception skills.
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).
- Planning and following the most efficient route70
- Sorting items to be delivered according to the delivery route.43
- Receiving and marking baggage by completing and attaching claim checks41
- Delivering various goods to and from enterprises, shops, households and other places25
- Delivering messages, packages and other items within an establishment or between establishments, or elsewhere24
- Carrying and delivering luggage at hotels, stations, airports, and elsewhere20
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.
- Planning and following the most efficient route(70)
- Sorting items to be delivered according to the delivery route.(43)
- Receiving and marking baggage by completing and attaching claim checks(41)
- Delivering various goods to and from enterprises, shops, households and other places(25)
- Delivering messages, packages and other items within an establishment or between establishments, or elsewhere(24)
- Carrying and delivering luggage at hotels, stations, airports, and elsewhere(20)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 37.)
About 17% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Planning and following the most efficient route
- • Sorting items to be delivered according to the delivery route.
- • Carrying and delivering luggage at hotels, stations, airports, and elsewhere
- • Delivering messages, packages and other items within an establishment or between establishments, or elsewhere
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 Refuse workers and other elementary workers group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Refuse workers and other elementary workers |
|---|---|
| Estonia | 2.7% · 19 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 2.5% · 73 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 2.1% · 19 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 2.1% · 505 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 1.8% · 27 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 1.8% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 1.7% · 17 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 1.5% · 45 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 1.4% · 110 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 1.3% · 67 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 1.2% · 50 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 1.1% · 51 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 1.0% · 334 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 1.0% · 27 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 0.9% · 23 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 0.9% · 4 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 0.8% · 184 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 0.8% · 40 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 0.7% · 207 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 0.6% · 11 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 0.6% · 32 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 0.5% · 93 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 0.5% · 229 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 0.5% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 0.5% · 21 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 0.4% · 11 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 0.4% · 12 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 0.4% · 22 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 0.3% · 34 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 0.3% · 13 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Elementary occupations). 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.
- Switzerland3,328
- Denmark2,741
- Iceland2,731
- Norway2,674
- Belgium2,613
- Ireland2,273
- Luxembourg2,269
- Sweden2,059
- Austria1,998
- Finland1,979
- Germany1,973
- Italy1,928
- France1,870
- EU271,835
- Netherlands1,710
- Spain1,658
- Slovenia1,626
- Malta1,498
- Poland1,413
- Greece1,378
- Lithuania1,349
- Cyprus1,331
- Romania1,288
- Croatia1,241
- Czechia1,218
- Estonia1,181
- Slovakia1,165
- Latvia1,119
- Portugal1,102
- Hungary1,057
- Bulgaria844
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 Refuse workers and other elementary workers 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?