← All 785 jobsFile 47-5081
Helpers--Extraction Workers
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 1.7% more of these jobs by 2035, slower than the 3.5% average.
- Rank
- Joint #685 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +1.7% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $47,730 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 7,100 in the US, with about 700 openings a year
The work, 12 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
Still yours: Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing14%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas12%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Perform general construction or extraction activities11%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Monitor operations to ensure adequate performance11%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Maintain tools or equipment10%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Select materials or equipment for operations or projects9%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 222 conversations, and it got them there 93% of the time. In this job the work is hands-on, so AI can only assist.
Still yours: Operate transportation equipment or vehicles8%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Operate construction or excavation equipment7%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Prepare industrial materials for processing or use5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Signal others to coordinate work activities5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Collect environmental or biological samples4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Disassemble equipment4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 102 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
About 700 openings a year, from growth and from people who retire or move on.
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
The jobs closest to this one. None of them is much less exposed.
- Shares 48% of the workPaving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators0% AI does, against 0% here-0.9% by 2035 · $53,340 · High school diploma
- Shares 41% of the workConstruction Laborers5% AI does, against 0% here+7.3% by 2035 · $47,120 · No formal credential
- Shares 38% of the workRoustabouts, Oil and Gas0% AI does, against 0% here+3.6% by 2035 · $46,960 · No formal credential
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Work front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.03, higher than 5% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 47-5081 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
Check another job.
Know someone in this job? Send them the file.