AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers?

Task-level automation exposure for Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

20% weighted task index

22 of 22 tasks scored

Median Salary

$41,640 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

13,920 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-8.8% employment change

3,700 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 43 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$23,190 – $60,210

Highest medians

New York $60,210

District of Columbia $57,720

Washington $54,300

Hawaii $53,680

Colorado $51,110

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $23,190

Mississippi $25,340

Oklahoma $26,300

Kansas $27,110

Arkansas $30,990

State figures come from the 51-6052 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 20%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 64%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 8%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 5%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 25/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 13%

3 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 9%

2 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 78%

17 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#12177 · Core · 22% automatable

Measure parts, such as sleeves or pant legs, and mark or pin-fold alteration lines.

physical manipulation — Marking reference points requires hands-on measurement

Measure materials to mark reference points, cutting lines, or other indicators.

#12181 · Core · 4% automatable

Remove stitches from garments to be altered, using rippers or razor blades.

physical manipulation — Textile repair needs hands-on dexterity

Repair textiles or apparel.

#12176 · Core · 5% automatable

Sew garments, using needles and thread or sewing machines.

physical manipulation — Operating sewing equipment is manual machine work

Sew clothing or other articles. Operate sewing equipment.

#12179 · Core · 4% automatable

Let out or take in seams in suits and other garments to improve fit.

physical manipulation — Sewing clothing requires fine manual dexterity

Sew clothing or other articles.

#12190 · Core · 51% automatable

Measure customers, using tape measures, and record measurements.

data analysis — Record production data into structured logs

Measure clients to ensure proper product fit. Record operational or production data.

#12175 · Core · 20% automatable

Fit and study garments on customers to determine required alterations.

physical manipulation — Physical body measurement for fit

Measure clients to ensure proper product fit.

#12187 · Core · 8% automatable

Trim excess material, using scissors.

physical manipulation — Manual trimming of workpieces

Trim excess material from workpieces.

#12180 · Core · 5% automatable

Assemble garment parts and join parts with basting stitches, using needles and thread or sewing machines.

physical manipulation — Operating sewing equipment is manual machine work

Sew clothing or other articles. Operate sewing equipment.

#12189 · Core · 4% automatable

Make garment style changes, such as tapering pant legs, narrowing lapels, and adding or removing padding.

physical manipulation — Sewing clothing requires fine manual dexterity

Sew clothing or other articles.

#12185 · Core · 4% automatable

Maintain garment drape and proportions as alterations are performed.

physical manipulation — Adjusting fabric is tactile manual work

Adjust fabrics or other materials during garment production.

#12178 · Core · 4% automatable

Take up or let down hems to shorten or lengthen garment parts, such as sleeves.

physical manipulation — Sewing clothing requires fine manual dexterity

Sew clothing or other articles.

#12192 · Core · 4% automatable

Repair or replace defective garment parts, such as pockets, zippers, snaps, buttons, and linings.

physical manipulation — Textile repair needs hands-on dexterity

Repair textiles or apparel.

#12186 · Core · 5% automatable

Press garments, using hand irons or pressing machines.

physical manipulation — Fine manual dexterity on fabric with heat tools

Smooth garments with irons, presses, or steamers.

#12184 · Core · 4% automatable

Fit, alter, repair, and make made-to-measure clothing, according to customers' and clothing manufacturers' specifications and fit, and applying principles of garment design, construction, and styling.

physical manipulation — Sewing clothing requires fine manual dexterity

Sew clothing or other articles. Repair textiles or apparel.

#12191 · Core · 78% automatable

Estimate how much a garment will cost to make, based on factors such as time and material requirements.

data analysis — Cost estimation from inputs; human validates

Estimate costs of products, services, or materials.

#12194 · Core · 8% automatable

Position patterns of garment parts on fabric, and cut fabric along outlines, using scissors.

physical manipulation — Physical alignment of patterns on workpieces

Cut fabrics. Position patterns on equipment, materials, or workpieces.

#12182 · Core · 12% automatable

Record required alterations and instructions on tags, and attach them to garments.

physical manipulation — Marking workpieces is hands-on physical task

Mark products, workpieces, or equipment with identifying information.

#12193 · Core · 50% automatable

Confer with customers to determine types of material and garment styles desired.

interpersonal — Order spec negotiation with customers is relational

Confer with customers or designers to determine order specifications.

#12183 · Core · 80% automatable

Examine tags on garments to determine alterations that are needed.

information retrieval — Parse specs and materials from orders

Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements.

#12188 · Core · 68% automatable

Develop, copy, or adapt designs for garments, and design patterns to fit measurements, applying knowledge of garment design, construction, styling, and fabric.

visual inspection — Generates template designs; aesthetic fit needs human review

Design templates or patterns.

#12196 · Core · 4% automatable

Put in padding and shaping materials.

physical manipulation — Adjusting fabric is tactile manual work

Adjust fabrics or other materials during garment production.

#12195 · Core · 4% automatable

Sew buttonholes and attach buttons to finish garments.

physical manipulation — Sewing clothing requires fine manual dexterity

Sew clothing or other articles.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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