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Sort materials or products

Work activity · O*NET

Sort materials or products is an intermediate work activity in the O*NET database — a concrete task that recurs across many occupations , grouped under Processing Information. 40 occupations report doing it as part of their work.

What it involves

The most common detailed activities O*NET records under this category, ranked by how many occupation tasks map to each.

  • Sort mail
  • Sort materials or products for processing, storing, shipping, or grading
  • Sort recyclable materials
  • Sort materials or products
  • Sort forestry or agricultural materials
  • Sort materials or objects for processing or transport

How AI is applied to this activity

Microsoft's "Working with AI" study mapped real Bing Copilot conversations to O*NET work activities. The figures below are their measurements for this activity — they describe how AI is used today in one assistant's data, not a forecast that the activity will be automated.

AI completes it successfully 89.4% When Copilot attempts this activity, how often it finishes the task
Scope AI handles 35.2% How much of the activity AI carries within a conversation
Positive user feedback 57.6% Share of interactions users rated positively
How often AI is applied here 59th pct Percentile across all measured activities by how often AI performs them

Source: Microsoft "Working with AI" (working-with-ai). A high completion rate means AI can assist the activity in isolation — it does not mean an occupation that performs it is being automated, since every job blends many activities.

Detailed work activities

The more granular units of work O*NET groups under this activity, ordered by how many occupations perform them.

Occupations that perform this activity

Ranked by how many of the occupation's tasks map to this activity.

Occupation Tasks
Recycling and Reclamation Workers 4
Library Assistants, Clerical 3
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service 3
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers 2
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders 2
Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers 1
Bill and Account Collectors 1
Couriers and Messengers 1
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand 1
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 1
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 1
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants 1
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse 1
File Clerks 1
Fishing and Hunting Workers 1
Forest and Conservation Workers 1
Gem and Diamond Workers 1
Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products 1
Helpers--Production Workers 1
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks 1
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers 1
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand 1
Library Technicians 1
Machinists 1
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners 1
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers 1
Office Clerks, General 1
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer 1
Packers and Packagers, Hand 1
Postal Service Clerks 1
Postal Service Mail Carriers 1
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators 1
Receptionists and Information Clerks 1
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 1
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood 1
Semiconductor Processing Technicians 1
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service 1
Telephone Operators 1
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping 1
Word Processors and Typists 1
Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 39 occupations in occupations that perform Sort materials or products.. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Semiconductor Processing Technicians Office Machine Operators, Except Computer Postal Service Clerks Library Assistants, Clerical Word Processors and Typists File Clerks Office Clerks, General Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants Bill and Account Collectors AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Occupations that perform Sort materials or products., by AI task-overlap and median pay

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Sort materials or products." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/activities/sort-materials-or-products

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Sort materials or products. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/activities/sort-materials-or-products

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-sort-materials-or-products,
  title  = {Sort materials or products},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/activities/sort-materials-or-products}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.