Computer User Support Specialists

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.6/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

46% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
Jobs that also use this strength

Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
Jobs that also use this strength
Show 1 more strength

Education and training expertise

Quite important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
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What users think

Based on 191 votes

56% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 46% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Computer User Support Specialists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Computer User Support Specialists was $60,340 ($29 per hour).

The median annual wage for Computer User Support Specialists was 21.9% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Computer User Support Specialists' job openings is expected to decline 3.7% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 697,210 people employed as 'Computer User Support Specialists' within the United States.

This represents around 0.45% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 221 people are employed as 'Computer User Support Specialists'.

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What people are saying (13)

Leave a comment
Loyaal (Uncertain)
13 Apr 2026 04:10
The one thing automation cannot do is provide compassion and the people skills to relate to the end user.
Martin
18 Feb 2026 09:31
Users usually lack the skill to determine if an AI solution is relevant to their issues. I predict that Support Engineers will remain but more and more handle non-routine issues where human intuition excels while themselves using AI to help solve the problem. They will act like a filter between user and AI.
Raje (Highly likely)
12 Feb 2026 03:38
As standard work procedures, sop are to followed by an support engg the jobs can be automated. Also when an AI can speak and make understand the user in their /user language it becomes more easy for user to communicate. There is no waiting time for a user to solve the issue,
William (Uncertain)
22 Oct 2025 06:43
There will be many parts that will be automated. But not all. There is a lot of human interaction (if it's not a online support).
Daniel (Low)
30 Jul 2025 14:35
People are stupid and an AI can't take that into account. It will just accept the person has read the simple instructions and it didn't work for them when in reality they didn't do it at all.
Alan (Low)
22 Jul 2025 23:58
Technology is always changing and end users most times need their hands held
SpiritAngelo (Moderate)
12 Apr 2025 03:09
Standard troubleshooting are routine. But unique perspective to discover unique problems is still necessary.
CVDC
06 Nov 2024 08:01
IT Support Engineers will be staying present but many companies will still choose to work with cheap (indian) outsourcing. And with AI a lot of work will be replaced. There will be less and less need for support engineers.
Nick (No chance)
05 Jun 2024 00:02
Humans naturally dislike interacting with AI, and no company can thrive without human IT support, even when fully remote.
Tan Ai Min (Highly likely)
07 Apr 2024 03:29
AI is not perfect but has brought improvement in many industries currently and I believe it will do more in the near future.
Truth (No chance)
29 Aug 2023 01:32
Users will always be users no matter the technology in the future. And in my view it's easier for a programmer to be replaced by AI than a support analyst.
Rose (Uncertain)
10 Mar 2023 07:13
I work in tech support and actual tech support is a minimal part of the job. It's mostly handling user emotions, frustration and unexpected human error. Some companies won't want to remedy this but there'll be demand
Dom (No chance)
25 Oct 2021 21:50
Customer support will always be a thing because people LOVE to vent while getting their issues resolved by a human with emotions :)
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Job description

Provide technical assistance to computer users. Answer questions or resolve computer problems for clients in person, via telephone, or electronically. May provide assistance concerning the use of computer hardware and software, including printing, installation, word processing, electronic mail, and operating systems.

O*NET-SOC code: 15-1232.00