Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers

Healthcare Support Occupations
O*NET-SOC code
31-9096.00

Feed, water, and examine pets and other nonfarm animals for signs of illness, disease, or injury in laboratories and animal hospitals and clinics. Clean and disinfect cages and work areas, and sterilize laboratory and surgical equipment. May provide routine postoperative care, administer medication orally or topically, or prepare samples for laboratory examination under the supervision of veterinary or laboratory animal technologists or technicians, veterinarians, or scientists.

AI exposure

  • Data source: BLSPublished: 2026-08

    Moderate· relative

    LowFour relative bandsVery high

    Group-level value

    Scale, basis and source

    Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)

    831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band

    Source dataset (XLSX download)

  • Data source: AnthropicPublished: 2026-03

    0.018

    0.000Range of values carried here0.745
    Scale, basis and source

    Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published

    Mapped onto O*NET tasks

    Published per SOC 2018 occupation; every O*NET occupation with the same SOC 2018 code carries this value

    Source dataset (CSV download)

  • Data source: ILOPublished: 2025

    0.14· 2 ISCO-08 groups

    Scale, basis and source

    Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published

    Published per ISCO-08 unit group. Linked to this occupation, wholly or in part, by applying U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC) as published

    Source dataset (PDF download)

What kind of figure this source publishes

The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.

ILO value for each linked ISCO-08 group
  • ISCO-08 3240Veterinary Technicians and Assistants0.14
  • ISCO-08 5164Pet Groomers and Animal Care Workers0.14

AI exposure (OpenAI rubric)

28 rated tasks · 9 tasks with β ≥ 0.5 (32.1%)

β = direct exposure (E1) + 0.5 × exposure when tools are available (E2), per the source repository's definition.

  • Source unit: O*NET 27.2 tasks → O*NET 31.0 occupation code
  • All rated tasks are in the O*NET 31.0 task list.
Source
OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" exposure rubric
Release
gh-main-0471612
License
MIT License, Copyright (c) 2024 OpenAI

Tasks

Task statements from the O*NET® 31.0 Database, core tasks first.

TaskTypeβ (OpenAI)
Monitor animals recovering from surgery and notify veterinarians of any unusual changes or symptoms.Core0
Clean, maintain, and sterilize instruments or equipment.Core0
Administer medication, immunizations, or blood plasma to animals as prescribed by veterinarians.Core0
Provide emergency first aid to sick or injured animals.Core0
Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination or operating rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.Core0
Hold or restrain animals during veterinary procedures.Core0
Perform routine laboratory tests or diagnostic tests, such as taking or developing x-rays.Core0.5
Fill medication prescriptions.Core0.5
Collect laboratory specimens, such as blood, urine, or feces, for testing.Core0
Examine animals to detect behavioral changes or clinical symptoms that could indicate illness or injury.Core0
Assist veterinarians in examining animals to determine the nature of illnesses or injuries.Core0
Prepare surgical equipment and pass instruments or materials to veterinarians during surgical procedures.Core0
Perform enemas, catheterizations, ear flushes, intravenous feedings, or gavages.Core0
Prepare feed for animals according to specific instructions, such as diet lists or schedules.Core0
Exercise animals or provide them with companionship.Core0
Record information relating to animal genealogy, feeding schedules, appearance, behavior, or breeding.Core1
Educate or advise clients on animal health care, nutrition, or behavior problems.Core0.5
Perform hygiene-related duties, such as clipping animals' claws or cleaning and polishing teeth.Core0
Prepare examination or treatment rooms by stocking them with appropriate supplies.Core0
Provide assistance with euthanasia of animals or disposal of corpses.Core0
Perform office reception duties, such as scheduling appointments or helping customers.Core0.5
Dust, spray, or bathe animals to control insect pests.Core0
Write reports, maintain research information, or perform clerical duties.Core1
Perform accounting duties, such as bookkeeping, billing customers for services, or maintaining inventories.Core1
Sell pet food or supplies to customers.Core0.5
Place orders to restock inventory of hospital or laboratory supplies.Core0.5
Administer anesthetics during surgery and monitor the effects on animals.Supplemental0
Groom, trim, or clip animals' coats.Supplemental0

Occupation information

Sources and attribution

This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database (https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html) by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. AI Changing Work has modified all or some of this information: the O*NET-SOC code, title and task statements are reproduced in English without change; task-type labels are shown in the page's language and tasks are listed core first; any Korean occupation title shown on the Korean-language page is AI Changing Work's translation; any KSCO-8 unit groups linked to this occupation were paired with it by AI Changing Work's judgment, and the relation labels and statuses are AI Changing Work's additions. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Any AI exposure figures on this page are published by third parties, not by AI Changing Work, and none is part of the O*NET information. OpenAI publishes task-level scores (MIT License) for O*NET 27.2 task statements; each is shown next to the O*NET 31.0 task statement with the same task ID, whose wording can differ from the 27.2 statement that was scored. OpenAI also publishes occupation-level scores for O*NET-SOC codes in the same release, and any such score is shown on the O*NET occupation with the same code. Anthropic publishes an observed exposure index in the Anthropic Economic Index (CC-BY), and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes relative AI exposure categories (public domain); both are published per SOC code, and each value is shown on every O*NET occupation with that code. The International Labour Organization publishes a generative AI exposure index in ILO Working Paper 140 (CC BY 4.0) for ISCO-08 unit groups; AI Changing Work links those groups to O*NET occupations by applying the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC and 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC crosswalks as published, without case-by-case selection, and these crosswalks match many groups only in part. Where several unit groups are linked, each group's published value is listed, and any summary shows only the lowest and highest of those values with the number of groups; no exposure figure is averaged or recalculated. Any employment figures are published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the SOC group containing this occupation. Each source is credited where its figures are shown.

O*NET OnLine: 31-9096.00 Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers

KSCO 코드·명칭: 한국표준직업분류(제8차 개정) — 통계청 고시 제2024-328호 (2024-07-01 고시, 2025-01-01 시행). 저작권법 제7조 제2호의 고시 항목이다. 명칭 표기(가운뎃점·띄어쓰기)는 해설서 2차 정오 반영판의 표기를 따랐으며, 고시 항목표와는 18개 명칭에서 가운뎃점 글리프나 띄어쓰기만 다르다. 통계청은 2025년 10월 국가데이터처로 개편되었다. 이 페이지의 KSCO 연결은 통계청·국가데이터처의 공식 연계표가 아니다.

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