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Natural Sciences Managers

Management · SOC 11-9121

6.1% AI Exposure — Medium
$167,220
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
6,100
Proj. Annual Openings
108,690
Employment (OEWS 2025)
+8.2%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
94/100
AI Resiliency Score

AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.

Decision card

Career Evidence Passport

SOC 11-9121 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
6.1%
Medium · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
55/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$167,220
H-1B offered wage $123,940; LCAs are filings.
Projected openings
6,100
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +3.7%.
Observed/proxy demand
728
FY2025 certified LCAs; 13,131 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

ScienceReading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical ThinkingMonitoring
  • H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
  • Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
  • Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
  • This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.

Best transitions from here

Explore all pathways

Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure6.1%
AI Resiliency94/100
Exposure BandMedium
Sector Avg. Exposure13.2%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

51.5%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic6.1%
AI capability · OpenAI53.1%
AI ability · AIOE95.2%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne1.8%

AI could do ~53.1% of this role but only ~6.1% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.

Top Skills

1.Science
2.Reading Comprehension
3.Active Listening
4.Critical Thinking
5.Monitoring

H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand

View full H-1B trends →

Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.

5,265
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
728
FY2025 Volume
0% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$123,940
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#75 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, and research and development in these fields.

Common titles: Analytical Services Manager, Chemical Engineer Supervisor, Chemical Process Exploration Manager, Environmental Program Manager, Lab Manager (Laboratory Manager), Natural Sciences Manager

Representative Tasks

  • Hire, supervise, or evaluate engineers, technicians, researchers, or other staff.
  • Design or coordinate successive phases of problem analysis, solution proposals, or testing.
  • Plan or direct research, development, or production activities.
  • Review project activities and prepare and review research, testing, or operational reports.
  • Confer with scientists, engineers, regulators, or others to plan or review projects or to provide technical assistance.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Evaluate employee performance.
  • Hire personnel.
  • Supervise employees.
  • Develop organizational methods or procedures.
  • Direct organizational operations, projects, or services.

Tools & Technologies

Microsoft Excel · hotMicrosoft PowerPoint · hotAdobe Photoshop · hotIBM SPSS Statistics · hotMicrosoft Access · hotSAS · hotStructured query language SQL · hotThe MathWorks MATLAB · hotClinical trial management softwareGraphics software

Employment Projections & AI Exposure

15
Occupations Shown
12.0%
Avg AI Exposure
10
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.

Employment & Wage Trend

BLS OEWS, 2019–2025


Occupation Employment & Wage TrendMulti-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 11-9121: 2019 — employment: 67,720, median wage: $129,100; 2020 — employment: 75,870, median wage: $137,940; 2021 — employment: 74,760, median wage: $137,900; 2022 — employment: 82,570, median wage: $144,440; 2023 — employment: 96,520, median wage: $157,740; 2025 — employment: 108,690, median wage: $167,220.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure6.1%13.2%
OutlookAverage40% Bright
Median Salary$167,220N/A
AI Resiliency94/100N/A