← All 785 jobsFile 51-4192
Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 3.4% fewer of these jobs by 2035.
- Rank
- Joint #685 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- -3.4% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $63,870 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 6,200 in the US, with about 500 openings a year
The work, 11 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: Position materials or components for assembly38%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Assemble products or work aids11%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Design materials or devices11%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 820 conversations, and it got them there 57% of the time.
AI helps with this: Plan work activities8%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 482 conversations, and it got them there 94% of the time. In this job the work is hands-on, so AI can only assist.
AI helps with this: Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment8%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 1,656 conversations, and it got them there 84% of the time.
Still yours: Operate lifting or moving equipment6%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Create decorative objects or parts of objects4%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 559 conversations, and it got them there 51% of the time.
Still yours: Inspect completed work or finished products4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Build structures4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Create visual designs or displays4%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 78 conversations, and it got them there 40% of the time.
Still yours: Apply protective solutions or coatings1%
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 97 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
Even shrinking, it should still see about 500 openings a year as people retire or move on.
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
The jobs closest to this one. None of them is much less exposed.
- Shares 54% of the workFabric and Apparel Patternmakers5% AI does, against 0% here-15% by 2035 · $62,750 · High school diploma
- Shares 44% of the workStructural Metal Fabricators and Fitters6% AI does, against 0% here-6.2% by 2035 · $51,330 · High school diploma
- Shares 36% of the workPatternmakers, Wood10% AI does, against 0% here-2% by 2035 · $49,630 · High school diploma
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 0.07, higher than 21% 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, 51-4192 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
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