Cytotechnologists

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

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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
3.3/10
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

55% (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.

Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
Jobs that also use this strength

Critical thinking

Quite important
Why this matters
Weigh options using logic and evidence, spot weaknesses in arguments, and choose the best approach when there isn’t a single clear answer.
Jobs that also use this strength

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.
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What users think

Based on 24 votes

71% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 55% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Cytotechnologists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians was $61,890 ($30 per hour).

The median annual wage for Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians was 25.0% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians' job openings is expected to rise 1.7% by 2034

* 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 343,040 people employed as 'Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians' within the United States.

This represents around 0.22% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 449 people are employed as 'Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians'.

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What people are saying (1)

jared (Highly likely)
12 Apr 2023 21:26
i can imagine that it would be pretty easy to train an AI on a large database of images of slides. I could also imagine this AI being able to detect disease with a higher accuracy rate than a human. As for the necessary manual dexterity involved in the process, I don't think that people with advanced degrees will be needed to make sure a slide is properly positioned under a microscope. Most jobs in the medical field that will be performed by humans will simply be assisting AI, training AI and double checking results for errors.
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Job description

Stain, mount, and study cells to detect evidence of cancer, hormonal abnormalities, and other pathological conditions following established standards and practices.

O*NET-SOC code: 29-2011.02