# Massage Therapists

> Perform therapeutic massages of soft tissues and joints. May assist in the assessment of range of motion and muscle strength, or propose client therapy plans.

- **SOC code:** 31-9011.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-31-9011-00
- **Also known as:** Certified Massage Therapist (CMT), Licensed Massage Practitioner (LMP), Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), Massage Therapist, Bodywork Therapist, Clinical Massage Therapist, Integrated Deep Tissue Massage Therapist, Registered Massage Therapist (RMT)
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Confer with clients about their medical histories and problems with stress or pain to determine how massage will be most helpful.
- Massage and knead muscles and soft tissues of the body to provide treatment for medical conditions, injuries, or wellness maintenance.
- Maintain massage areas by restocking supplies or sanitizing equipment.
- Apply finger and hand pressure to specific points of the body.
- Develop and propose client treatment plans that specify which types of massage are to be used.
- Maintain treatment records.
- Assess clients' soft tissue condition, joint quality and function, muscle strength, and range of motion.
- Provide clients with guidance and information about techniques for postural improvement and stretching, strengthening, relaxation, and rehabilitative exercises.
- Treat clients in professional settings or travel to clients' offices and homes.
- Refer clients to other types of therapists when necessary.
- Prepare and blend oils and apply the blends to clients' skin.
- Consult with other health care professionals, such as physiotherapists, chiropractors, physicians, and psychologists, to develop treatment plans for clients.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Dynamic Strength _(ability)_
- Trunk Strength _(ability)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Manual Dexterity _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Multilimb Coordination _(ability)_
- Biology _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Biology _(Specialized Skill)_
- Psychology _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- AppointmentQuest Online Appointment Manager
- ICS Software SammyUSA
- Land Software Customer Pro-File
- Massage Suite
- Scheduling software
- WinCity Custom Software WinCity Massage SOAP Notes

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 3rd percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 6th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 10th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 2nd percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 48th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 15.4% growth (Growing fast); 24.7k annual openings; 168k → 193.9k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $57,950; 96,040 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 11% automation, 67% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 4.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** learning.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Provide clients with guidance and information about techniques for postural improvement and stretching, strengthening, relaxation, and rehabilitative exercises. _(1.1% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Confer with clients about their medical histories and problems with stress or pain to determine how massage will be most helpful. _(0.6% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me provide clients with guidance and information about techniques for postural improvement and stretching, strengthening, relaxation, and rehabilitative exercises.
- Help me confer with clients about their medical histories and problems with stress or pain to determine how massage will be most helpful.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-31-9011-00_