Cut and trim hair according to clients' instructions or current hairstyles, using clippers, combs, hand-held blow driers, and scissors.

“Cut and trim hair according to clients' instructions or current hairstyles, using clippers, combs, hand-held blow driers, and scissors.” is a core task performed by Barbers. Among the occupation's 20 rated tasks, workers place it 19th by importance (#2 most important). About 100% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Groom or style hair. in Handling and Moving Objects

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Clean and sterilize scissors, combs, clippers, and other instruments. · importance 4.9
• Drape and pin protective cloths around customers' shoulders. · importance 4.9
• Question patrons regarding desired services and haircut styles. · importance 4.8
• Clean work stations and sweep floors. · importance 4.7
• Apply lather and shave beards or neck and temple hair contours, using razors. · importance 4.4
• Record services provided on cashiers' tickets or receive payment from customers. · importance 4.2
• Shape and trim beards and moustaches, using scissors. · importance 4.2
• Perform clerical and administrative duties such as keeping records, paying bills, and hiring and supervising personnel. · importance 4.1
• Stay informed of the latest styles and hair care techniques. · importance 3.8
• Suggest treatments to alleviate hair problems. · importance 3.7
• Order supplies. · importance 3.6
• Provide skin care and nail treatments. · importance 3.3
• Shampoo hair. · importance 3.3
• Keep card files on clientele, recording notes of work done, products used and fees charged after each visit. · importance 3.2

See all tasks on the Barbers page.

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.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-8050,
  title  = {Cut and trim hair according to clients' instructions or current hairstyles, using clippers, combs, hand-held blow driers, and scissors.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-8050}
}