AI exposure: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution. Time-stamp, open, read, sort, and route incoming mail; and address, seal, stamp, fold, stuff, and affix postage to outgoing mail or packages. Duties may also include keeping necessary records and completed forms.
Reading this score
computedAt 23.8% of weighted task load, Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service sits at the 44th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 66.0% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 29 tasks it averages 2.25 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Verify that items are addressed correctly, marked with the proper postage, and in suitable..., at 80.0%. The least is Wrap packages or bundles by hand, or by using tying machines, 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 office and administrative support occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 55.9% across the group's 51 roles, with 49 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 29 tasks, 11 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 18 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery 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.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.35 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.25 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.41 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.41 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.84 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.50 | 0-3 |
Task by task
29 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verify that items are addressed correctly, marked with the proper postage, and in suitable condition for processing. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.51 | exposed |
| Determine manner in which mail is to be sent, and prepare it for delivery to mailing facilities. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Mail merchandise samples or promotional literature in response to requests. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 3.39 | exposed |
| Read production orders to determine types and sizes of items scheduled for printing and mailing. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.50 | exposed |
| Operate embossing machines or typewriters to make corrections, additions, and changes to address plates. | 51.8% | 14.8% | 33.3% | – | exposed |
| Release packages or letters to customers upon presentation of written notices or other identification. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.36 | exposed |
| Answer inquiries regarding shipping or mailing policies. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.88 | exposed |
| Contact delivery or courier services to arrange delivery of letters and parcels. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.77 | exposed |
| Operate computer-controlled keyboards or voice recognition equipment to direct items according to established routing schemes. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Start machines that automatically feed plates, stencils, or tapes through mechanisms, and observe machine operations to detect any malfunctions. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Sell mail products, and accept payment for products and mailing charges. | 28.3% | 21.7% | 50.0% | 3.53 | exposed |
| Stamp dates and times of receipt of incoming mail. | 20.0% | 5.0% | 75.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Sort and route incoming mail, and collect outgoing mail, using carts as necessary. | 18.3% | 6.7% | 75.0% | 4.20 | untouched |
| Seal or open envelopes, by hand or by using machines. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.07 | untouched |
| Affix postage to packages or letters by hand, or stamp materials, using postage meters. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Inspect mail machine output for defects and determine how to eliminate causes of any defects. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 3.64 | untouched |
| Accept and check containers of mail or parcels from large volume mailers, couriers, and contractors. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 3.96 | untouched |
| Place incoming or outgoing letters or packages into sacks or bins based on destination or type, and place identifying tags on sacks or bins. | 8.8% | 3.8% | 87.5% | 4.40 | untouched |
| Insert material for printing or addressing into loading racks on machines, select type or die sizes, and position plates, stencils, or tapes in machine magazines. | 7.9% | 4.6% | 87.5% | – | untouched |
| Use equipment, such as forklifts and automated "trains," to move containers of mail. | 6.7% | 5.8% | 87.5% | – | untouched |
| Lift and unload containers of mail or parcels onto equipment for transportation to sortation stations. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.56 | untouched |
| Clear jams in sortation equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.47 | untouched |
| Remove containers of sorted mail or parcels and transfer them to designated areas according to established procedures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Weigh packages or letters to determine postage needed, using weighing scales and rate charts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Fold letters or circulars and insert them in envelopes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Add ink, fill paste reservoirs, and change machine ribbons when necessary. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.92 | untouched |
| Adjust guides, rollers, loose card inserters, weighing machines, and tying arms, using rules and hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Remove from machines printed materials, such as labeled articles, postmarked envelopes or tape, and folded sheets. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Wrap packages or bundles by hand, or by using tying machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.55 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 3 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
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.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.