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Museum Technicians and Conservators

Education, Training, and Library · SOC 25-4013

0.0% AI Exposure — Low
$51,440
Median Annual Salary
Bright ↗
O*NET Outlook
1,800
Proj. Annual Openings
12,310
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-1.1%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
100/100
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 25-4013 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
0.0%
Low · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
55/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$51,440
H-1B offered wage $70,000; LCAs are filings.
Projected openings
1,800
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +5.4%.
Observed/proxy demand
39
FY2025 certified LCAs; 2,761 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Active ListeningReading ComprehensionSpeakingWritingCritical Thinking

Transition context

  • 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.

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure0.0%
AI Resiliency100/100
Exposure BandLow
Sector Avg. Exposure17.9%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

28.4%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic0%
AI capability · OpenAI23.7%
AI ability · AIOE61.4%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne59%

AI could do ~23.7% of this role but only ~0% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.

Top Skills

1.Active Listening
2.Reading Comprehension
3.Speaking
4.Writing
5.Critical Thinking

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.

245
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
39
FY2025 Volume
0% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$70,000
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#269 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art. May identify and record objects or install and arrange them in exhibits. Includes book or document conservators.

Common titles: Art Preparator, Conservation Technician, Conservator, Exhibit Technician, Museum Registrar, Museum Technician

Representative Tasks

  • Install, arrange, assemble, and prepare artifacts for exhibition, ensuring the artifacts' safety, reporting their status and condition, and identifying and correcting any problems with the set up.
  • Repair, restore, and reassemble artifacts, designing and fabricating missing or broken parts, to restore them to their original appearance and prevent deterioration.
  • Clean objects, such as paper, textiles, wood, metal, glass, rock, pottery, and furniture, using cleansers, solvents, soap solutions, and polishes.
  • Photograph objects for documentation.
  • Determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Prepare materials for preservation, storage, or display.
  • Construct exhibits or parts of exhibits.
  • Classify materials according to standard systems.
  • Direct department activities.
  • Evaluate characteristics of archival or historical objects.

Tools & Technologies

Adobe Creative Cloud software · hotAdobe Illustrator · hotAdobe Photoshop · hotMicrosoft Excel · hotMicrosoft Outlook · hotMicrosoft PowerPoint · hotGallery Systems EmbARKPastPerfect Software PastPerfectQuestor Systems ARGUSQuestor Systems QScan32

Employment Projections & AI Exposure

15
Occupations Shown
19.4%
Avg AI Exposure
8
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 25-4013: 2019 — employment: 13,190, median wage: $44,430; 2020 — employment: 11,930, median wage: $45,710; 2021 — employment: 10,960, median wage: $47,630; 2022 — employment: 12,240, median wage: $47,270; 2023 — employment: 12,670, median wage: $48,670; 2025 — employment: 12,310, median wage: $51,440.

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

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure0.0%17.9%
OutlookBright ↗47% Bright
Median Salary$51,440N/A
AI Resiliency100/100N/A