High Risk Declining

QA Tester / Quality Assurance

QA testers manually test software, identify bugs, verify functionality, and ensure quality before release.

$58,570
Median Salary
190,000
Total Employed
3
Career Transitions
AI Risk Score
0 %
High Risk

Competition Forecast

Millions will compete for the same safe roles. Act now for a head start.

140K+ manual testers replaced by automation

Workers Leaving This Role

Top Target Role

QA Automation Engineer / SDET

Expected Competition

Extreme - entire profession automating rapidly

Your Head Start

Urgent - manual testing disappearing fast

140K+ manual testers replaced by automation workers will flood the job market competing for the same transition paths.

Estimates based on labor market research from BLS, McKinsey, and World Economic Forum. Actual outcomes may vary.

Urgency Indicators

AI Capability Today 9/10

How well can AI perform this job today (1-10)

Job Posting Trend -38% since 2022

Change in job postings over recent years

Automation Timeline Already happening

Estimated time until significant automation

Applitools AI detects visual bugs across devices automatically Testim AI generates and maintains Selenium tests without coding Mabl self-healing tests adapt to application changes autonomously

Why This Job Is At Risk

AI test generation tools create comprehensive test suites automatically from code and requirements

Automated testing frameworks run thousands of tests in minutes without human intervention

Self-healing tests use AI to adapt to UI changes without manual script updates

GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT generate test cases and automation scripts from descriptions

Career Transitions

Safe career paths based on your existing skills

QA Automation Engineer

35%
Salary Change +60%
Skill Overlap 70%
Time to Transition 6-12 months

Skills to Learn

SeleniumPython/JavaCI/CD IntegrationTest Frameworks

Software Developer in Test (SDET)

30%
Salary Change +75%
Skill Overlap 65%
Time to Transition 12-18 months

Skills to Learn

ProgrammingTest ArchitectureAPI TestingPerformance Testing

DevOps Engineer

25%
Salary Change +70%
Skill Overlap 60%
Time to Transition 12-18 months

Skills to Learn

CI/CDCloud PlatformsInfrastructureAutomation

Recommended Courses

Start your transition today with these courses

Best Seller

Selenium WebDriver with Java

Udemy

Duration 40 hours
Price $19.99
Rating β˜… 4.6

Skills You'll Learn

SeleniumJavaTestNGMaven
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Test Automation University

Applitools

Duration 3-6 months
Price Free
Rating β˜… 4.8

Skills You'll Learn

Multiple FrameworksAPI TestingMobile TestingAI Testing
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ISTQB Test Automation Engineer

ISTQB

Duration 3 months
Price $250 exam
Rating β˜… 4.5

Skills You'll Learn

Test AutomationFrameworksToolsCI/CD
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