# Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products

> Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

- **SOC code:** 45-2041.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-45-2041-00
- **Also known as:** Apple Sorter, Grader, Potato Grader, Sorter, Agriculture Laborer, Corn Lab Technician, Distribution Technician, Egg Grader
- **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):
- Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers.
- Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel.
- Discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing.
- Grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage.
- Record grade or identification numbers on tags or on shipping, receiving, or sales sheets.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Production and Processing _(knowledge)_
- Manual Dexterity _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Category Flexibility _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Finger Dexterity _(ability)_
- Mechanical _(knowledge)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Trunk Strength _(ability)_
- Speech Recognition _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Access _(Specialized Skill)_
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 5th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 7th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 14th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 7th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 44th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -5.4% growth (Declining); 5.1k annual openings; 38.9k → 36.8k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $35,430; 26,870 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

---
_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-45-2041-00_