Career Explorer Office and admin
Changing shape
Production, planning, and expediting clerks
Coordinate and expedite the flow of work and materials within or between departments of an establishment according to production schedule. Duties include reviewing and distributing production, work, and shipment schedules; conferring with department supervisors to determine progress of work and completion dates; and compiling reports on progress of work, inventory levels, costs, and production problems.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 5% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by -1.3% by 2035, expected to shrink.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $59,650
- Job growth to 2035
- -1.3%
- Openings a year
- 32,600
- People doing it (2025)
- 392,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
- Compile records, documentation, or other data
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures
- Maintain operational records
- Schedule operational activities
What the work looks like
- Distribute production schedules or work orders to departments.
- Revise production schedules when required due to design changes, labor or material shortages, backlogs, or other interruptions, collaborating with management, marketing, sales, production, or engineering.
- Review documents, such as production schedules, work orders, or staffing tables, to determine personnel or materials requirements or material priorities.
- Arrange for delivery, assembly, or distribution of supplies or parts to expedite flow of materials and meet production schedules.
- Confer with establishment personnel, vendors, or customers to coordinate production or shipping activities and to resolve complaints or eliminate delays.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as productivity enhancements due to technology more than offset the increased demand for logistical services.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Meter readers, utilitiesHuman edge, steady, Index 10, -10.5%
- Surveying and mapping techniciansGrows with AI, Index 53, +5.8%
- Couriers and messengersHuman edge, growing, Index 66, +8.0%
- Information and record clerks, all otherChanging shape, Index 7, +0.8%
Also known as: Expeditor, Materials Planner, Production Planner, Production Scheduler, Inventory Control Specialist, Material Requirements Planner (MRP), Materials Coordinator, Production Assistant.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.