# Embalmers

> Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.

- **SOC code:** 39-4011.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-39-4011-00
- **Also known as:** Embalmer, Licensed Embalmer, Trade Embalmer, Anatomical Embalmer, Arterial Embalmer, Funeral Embalmer, Funeral Services Embalmer, Restorative Art Embalmer
- **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):
- Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.
- Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.
- Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
- Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
- Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
- Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
- Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
- Remove the deceased from place of death and transport to funeral home.
- Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.
- Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.
- Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Chemistry _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Psychology _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Law and Government _(knowledge)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Chemistry _(Specialized Skill)_
- Psychology _(Specialized Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Biology _(Specialized Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Belmar & Associates Mortware
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- Custom Data Systems Sterling Management Software
- FPA Software MACCS
- HMIS Advantage
- Twin Tier Technologies MIMS
- Web browser software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 8th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 27th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 6th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 4th 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):** 1.3% growth (About average); 0.6k annual openings; 3.6k → 3.7k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $56,280; 3,420 employed.

## 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/
- **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-39-4011-00_