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Technology Design

Cross-functional skill · O*NET work requirement

Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.

In the O*NET occupational database, Technology Design is a skill that work requires. O*NET rates how important it is (1–5) and what level of it a job needs (0–7) for every U.S. occupation. It is rated as important (3 or higher) in 19 of 894 occupations.

Breadth here means how widely O*NET rates this skill as important across occupations — not that it is rare, high-paying, or currently in employer demand.

Occupations that rely most on Technology Design

Ranked by O*NET importance to the occupation (1–5). Bars are sized against the 1–5 scale; the level column is what depth of the skill the job needs (0–7).

Occupation Importance Score Level
Manufacturing Engineers 3.6 4.0
Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers 3.4 3.8
Robotics Engineers 3.4 4.1
Software Developers 3.4 3.6
Aerospace Engineers 3.3 3.8
Photonics Engineers 3.3 3.9
Automotive Engineers 3.1 3.9
Commercial and Industrial Designers 3.1 3.6
Computer Network Architects 3.1 3.4
Computer and Information Research Scientists 3.1 4.1
Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists 3.1 3.9
Mechanical Engineers 3.1 3.5
Mechatronics Engineers 3.1 3.6
Nanosystems Engineers 3.1 3.9
Database Architects 3.0 3.0
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 3.0 3.3
Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers 3.0 3.0
Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians 3.0 3.1
Video Game Designers 3.0 3.0
Chemical Engineers 2.9 2.9
Computer Systems Analysts 2.9 3.1
Fuel Cell Engineers 2.9 3.1
Nuclear Engineers 2.9 2.9
Orthotists and Prosthetists 2.9 3.1
Water/Wastewater Engineers 2.9 3.3
Agricultural Engineers 2.8 3.0
Computer Programmers 2.8 2.4
Health Informatics Specialists 2.8 2.9
Network and Computer Systems Administrators 2.8 3.0
Physicists 2.8 3.4
Robotics Technicians 2.8 2.9
Sales Engineers 2.8 2.9
Tool and Die Makers 2.8 2.9
Transportation Engineers 2.8 2.8
Computer Hardware Engineers 2.6 2.8
Data Warehousing Specialists 2.6 2.8
Logistics Engineers 2.6 2.6
Materials Engineers 2.6 2.9
Natural Sciences Managers 2.6 2.9
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers 2.6 2.6

How AI is used by roles that need Technology Design

This skill is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the roles for which O*NET rates it important and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across those roles (importance-weighted). 68.4% of the 19 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (13 roles).

Across those roles, 53.4% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 25.6% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.87 / 5.

Collaboration pattern Share What it means
learning 27.6% you ask AI to explain or teach
task iteration 24.4% you and AI go back and forth
directive 21.9% AI does it; you give the instruction
feedback loop 3.6% AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback
validation 1.4% you do it; AI checks your work

Roles behind this signal

The roles where this skill is most important and that also have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.

Occupation Importance Works with AI Autonomy
Robotics Engineers 3.4 42.0% 4.0/5
Photonics Engineers 3.3 63.5% 4.0/5
Nanosystems Engineers 3.1 63.0% 4.0/5
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 3.0 45.3% 4.0/5
Automotive Engineers 3.1 56.2% 4.0/5
Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists 3.1 57.2% 4.0/5
Mechanical Engineers 3.1 42.0% 3.5/5
Biomedical Engineers 3.4 68.7% 4.0/5
Commercial and Industrial Designers 3.1 43.8% 4.0/5
Aerospace Engineers 3.3 49.4% 3.0/5
Industrial Engineering Technicians 3.0 52.2% 4.0/5
Mechatronics Engineers 3.1 56.1% 4.0/5

Source: Anthropic Economic Index (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) over a sample of Claude.ai Free and Pro conversations — not all AI tools and not the whole workforce. Shares are of observed conversations, weighted by how important this skill is to each role; some conversations are left unclassified by Anthropic's taxonomy, so shares need not sum to 100.

Industries that concentrate this

Where Technology Design matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Technology Design (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5). Concentration compares that reach to the national average industry, so a value above 1× means the requirement is more pervasive here than across the economy as a whole.

Nationally, about 1.5% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Technology Design (measured across 51 industries).

Sectors with the most such workers

Sector Workers Employment reach
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 865,610 8.0%
Information 371,630 12.8%
Manufacturing 322,570 2.5%
Finance and Insurance 166,370 2.7%
Management of Companies and Enterprises 123,740 4.4%
Wholesale Trade 96,830 1.6%
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 79,650 0.9%
Educational Services 31,100 0.2%
Transportation and Warehousing 21,270 0.3%
Health Care and Social Assistance 19,690 0.1%
Retail Trade 15,910 0.1%
Construction 11,360 0.1%

Industries where it is most concentrated

Industry Level Concentration Employment reach
Information Sector 8.53× 12.8%
Engineering Services National industry 5.87× 8.8%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Sector 5.33× 8.0%
Management of Companies and Enterprises Sector 2.93× 4.4%
Testing Laboratories and Services National industry 2.93× 4.4%
Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers National industry 2.4× 3.6%
Finance and Insurance Sector 1.8× 2.7%
Manufacturing Sector 1.67× 2.5%
Wholesale Trade Sector 1.07× 1.6%
Temporary Help Services National industry 0.93× 1.4%
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages National industry 0.8× 1.2%
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services Sector 0.6× 0.9%

Reach is a measure of how widespread a requirement is across an industry's workforce, not how intensively any individual uses it. Sector worker counts come from BLS OEWS employment; the significance threshold and tool use come from O*NET. Industries shown by concentration are filtered to a real worker base so a tiny specialty cannot top the list on rounding.

Capabilities required by many of the same occupations — a measure of which skills, knowledge and abilities tend to travel together, not a judgment of similarity.

Capability Type Shared occupations
Operations Analysis Cross-functional skill 18
Programming Cross-functional skill 7
Physics Knowledge 13
Design Knowledge 18
Science Basic skill 13
Engineering and Technology Knowledge 17
Mathematics Basic skill 16
Number Facility Ability 15
Mathematical Reasoning Ability 16
Systems Evaluation Cross-functional skill 19
Quality Control Analysis Cross-functional skill 13
Systems Analysis Cross-functional skill 19

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. "Technology Design." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/skills/technology-design

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Technology Design. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/skills/technology-design

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-technology-design,
  title  = {Technology Design},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/skills/technology-design}
}

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