The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 39-3092.00 · Job Zone 2

AI exposure: Costume Attendants

Select, fit, and take care of costumes for cast members, and aid entertainers. May assist with multiple costume changes during performances.

Reading this score

computed

35.4% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Costume Attendants at the 61th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.1 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.

No single friction dominates this occupation. The strongest is embodiment at 1.43 out of 3 and the weakest is accountability at 0.62, which is a narrow spread. Where nothing structural stands in the way, exposure tracks capability almost directly, and capability is the thing that changes every quarter.

The most exposed thing this job does is Purchase, rent, or requisition costumes or other wardrobe necessities, at 80.0%. The least is Care for non-clothing items, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.

Within personal care and service occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 31 roles in the group is 23.4%, and only 5 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.

What would move this score. Of 21 tasks, 13 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 7 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take capability alone, since there is little structural friction here to slow adoption once a system can do the work. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Task by task

21 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Purchase, rent, or requisition costumes or other wardrobe necessities.80.0%20.0%0.0%3.49exposed
Create worksheets for dressing lists, show notes, or costume checks.73.3%26.7%0.0%4.20exposed
Provide dressing assistance to cast members or assign cast dressers to assist specific cast members with costume changes.66.7%33.3%0.0%4.20exposed
Inventory stock to determine types or conditions of available costuming.55.0%20.0%25.0%3.01exposed
Check the appearance of costumes on stage or under lights to determine whether desired effects are being achieved.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.94exposed
Study books, pictures, or examples of period clothing to determine styles worn during specific periods in history.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.33exposed
Review scripts or other production information to determine a story's locale or period, as well as the number of characters and required costumes.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.30exposed
Provide managers with budget recommendations and take responsibility for budgetary line items related to costumes, storage, or makeup needs.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.36exposed
Collaborate with production designers, costume designers, or other production staff to discuss and execute costume design details.45.0%30.0%25.0%3.74exposed
Monitor, maintain, or secure inventories of costumes, wigs, or makeup, providing keys or access to assigned directors, costume designers, or wardrobe mistresses/masters.41.7%20.8%37.5%3.68exposed
Assign lockers to employees and maintain locker rooms, dressing rooms, wig rooms, or costume storage or laundry areas.36.7%13.3%50.0%3.34exposed
Participate in the hiring, training, scheduling, or supervision of alteration workers.35.4%27.1%37.5%3.37exposed
Design or construct costumes or send them to tailors for construction, major repairs, or alterations.30.0%20.0%50.0%3.97exposed
Distribute costumes or related equipment and keep records of item status.23.8%13.8%62.5%3.95untouched
Recommend vendors and monitor their work.16.7%33.3%50.0%2.67assisted
Direct the work of wardrobe crews during dress rehearsals or performances.13.3%11.7%75.0%3.40untouched
Examine costume fit on cast members and sketch or write notes for alterations.11.7%13.3%75.0%3.97untouched
Arrange costumes in order of use to facilitate quick-change procedures for performances.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.07untouched
Clean and press costumes before and after performances and perform any minor repairs.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.82untouched
Return borrowed or rented items when productions are complete and return other items to storage.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.31untouched
Care for non-clothing items, such as flags, table skirts, or draperies.0.0%0.0%100.0%2.48untouched

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability2.120-4
Embodiment1.430-3
Presence0.830-3
Accountability0.620-3
Context1.380-3
Verification cost0.830-3

What this means in practice

Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.

Occupations either side of this one

The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.

Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.