# Butchers and Meat Cutters

> Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.

- **SOC code:** 51-3021.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-3021-00
- **Also known as:** Butcher, Meat Clerk, Meat Cutter, Meat Specialist, Meat Wrapper, Beef Shoppe Clerk, Blockman, Butcher Block Clerk
- **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):
- Prepare and place meat cuts and products in display counter to appear attractive and catch the shopper's eye.
- Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat.
- Cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, and fish, to prepare in cooking form.
- Prepare special cuts of meat ordered by customers.
- Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery to ensure meat quality.
- Estimate requirements and order or requisition meat supplies to maintain inventories.
- Record quantity of meat received and issued to cooks or keep records of meat sales.
- Supervise other butchers or meat cutters.
- Cure, smoke, tenderize, and preserve meat.
- Negotiate with representatives from supply companies to determine order details.
- Shape, lace, and tie roasts, using boning knife, skewer, and twine.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Clean and sanitize meat cases and cutting equipment.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Food Production _(knowledge)_
- Manual Dexterity _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Production and Processing _(knowledge)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Information Ordering _(ability)_
- Category Flexibility _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Financial accounting software
- Web browser software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 34th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 19th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 25th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 65th percentile (Moderate) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 84th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 1.0% growth (About average); 16.9k annual openings; 143.1k → 144.5k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $38,960; 140,040 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-51-3021-00_