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Occupation · 2026 assessment

Physicist

A Physicist frames research questions, obtains and validates evidence and is accountable for reproducible, sound scientific conclusions. The assessment separates automation of individual tasks from accountability for the professional outcome.

Moderate risk level Search jobs ↗
How risk may change

A forecast estimate, not a guaranteed scenario.

42%2026
45%2028
49%2030
55%2035

Which tasks are exposed

Risk applies to individual tasks—not to a person or an entire occupation.

TaskRisk
reviewing scientific literature60%
forming a hypothesis55%
designing the study51%
collecting samples or data46%
performing measurements40%
statistical analysis30%
interpreting results19%
preparing publication11%

Task map

AI replaces ↔ AI augments

Each task is positioned by AI capability and the degree of human involvement still required.

  1. 1reviewing scientific literatureAI 60% · human 55%
  2. 2forming a hypothesisAI 55% · human 59%
  3. 3designing the studyAI 51% · human 64%
  4. 4collecting samples or dataAI 46% · human 70%
  5. 5performing measurementsAI 40% · human 72%
  6. 6statistical analysisAI 30% · human 71%
  7. 7interpreting resultsAI 19% · human 70%
  8. 8preparing publicationAI 11% · human 73%

Why technology can change this work

  • digital tools reduce preparation and control time
  • full automation is constrained by variable real-world conditions
  • many cases still require professional judgement
  • the main inputs and outputs already exist digitally

What protects the occupation

  • framing a testable question
  • interpreting ambiguous evidence
  • scientific accountability

United States · before tax

Average pay and outlook

Estimated nominal monthly pay. The scenario reflects sector, demand and task resilience; it is not a guarantee of income.

2026$8 100per month
2035$10 950scenario estimate
2026: $8 10020262027: $8 40020272028: $8 65020282029: $8 95020292030: $9 25020302031: $9 55020312032: $9 90020322033: $10 25020332034: $10 60020342035: $10 9502035
Find jobs ↗The partner link may contain referral parameters. Data benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ↗

Practical next step

Where to move next

Do not restart from zero: carry your experience forward and add scarce skills.

Data Analyst

Established resilient role
New role risk51%
DemandMediumDifficultyMediumTime6–12 monthsSkill fit70%

Bioinformatics Pipeline Engineer

Emerging role
New role risk13%
DemandHighDifficultyLowTime3–6 monthsSkill fit87%

Synthetic Biology Process Engineer

Emerging role
New role risk14%
DemandHighDifficultyLowTime3–6 monthsSkill fit85%

Dataset Curator

Emerging role
New role risk34%
DemandHighDifficultyLowTime3–6 monthsSkill fit83%

Model Behavior Analyst

Emerging role
New role risk19%
DemandHighDifficultyMediumTime6–12 monthsSkill fit64%

Climate Risk Modeler

Emerging role
New role risk16%
DemandHighDifficultyLowTime3–6 monthsSkill fit81%

Job search and transitions

Find work with a lower risk index

Compare adjacent paths and open a current search for the selected occupation.

Skills you already have

  • research methodology
  • laboratory or field methods
  • statistics
  • critical thinking
  • scientific writing
  • reproducibility

Skills to build

  • computational methods
  • experiment automation
  • open data
  • AI-hypothesis verification
  • scientific programming
  • research-data management
CurrentPhysicist · 42%
→
Keepresearch methodology · laboratory or field methods · statistics
→
Addcomputational methods · experiment automation · open data

Sources and update

Updated: 2026-09-26 · Assessment confidence: Medium

International Labour Organization · 2025Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure

Nearly 30,000 tasks; a global assessment of GenAI exposure across detailed occupational groups.

World Economic Forum · 2025The Future of Jobs Report 2025

A survey of more than 1,000 employers representing over 14 million workers across 55 economies.

O*NET Resource Center · 2026O*NET Database

Occupational, task, skill and work-context structure.