AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers?

Task-level automation exposure for Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers: 20 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

25% weighted task index

20 of 20 tasks scored

Median Salary

$109,910 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

23,790 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+5.7% employment change

1,900 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 38 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$38,190 – $143,690

Highest medians

Maine $143,690

Nevada $141,950

California $141,180

Oregon $138,600

Massachusetts $138,420

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $38,190

Kentucky $42,670

Arkansas $61,530

New Mexico $71,430

Wisconsin $77,640

State figures come from the 47-4021 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 25%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 55%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 5%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 12%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 77/100 High

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

20 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 17%

3 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 6%

1 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 77%

16 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#11571 · Core · 20% automatable

Inspect wiring connections, control panel hookups, door installations, and alignments and clearances of cars and hoistways to ensure that equipment will operate properly.

visual inspection — Defect detection in electrical systems needs presence

Inspect electrical or electronic systems for defects.

#11564 · Core · 8% automatable

Assemble, install, repair, and maintain elevators, escalators, moving sidewalks, and dumbwaiters, using hand and power tools, and testing devices such as test lamps, ammeters, and voltmeters.

physical manipulation — Physical maintenance of mechanical equipment

Assemble products or production equipment. Maintain mechanical equipment.

#11572 · Core · 14% automatable

Disassemble defective units, and repair or replace parts such as locks, gears, cables, and electric wiring.

physical manipulation — Physical repair of electrical equipment

Maintain mechanical equipment. Repair electrical equipment.

#11567 · Core · 55% automatable

Check that safety regulations and building codes are met, and complete service reports verifying conformance to standards.

text generation — Generate operational reports from structured data

Evaluate construction projects to determine compliance with external standards or regulations. Prepare operational reports.

#11566 · Core · 20% automatable

Locate malfunctions in brakes, motors, switches, and signal and control systems, using test equipment.

visual inspection — Physical locating of worn parts needs hands-on presence

Locate equipment or materials in need of repair or replacement. Inspect industrial or commercial equipment to ensure proper operation.

#11569 · Core · 10% automatable

Adjust safety controls, counterweights, door mechanisms, and components such as valves, ratchets, seals, and brake linings.

physical manipulation — Physical maintenance of mechanical equipment

Maintain mechanical equipment.

#11570 · Core · 70% automatable

Read and interpret blueprints to determine the layout of system components, frameworks, and foundations, and to select installation equipment.

visual inspection — Specs reading aided, human validates requirements

Review blueprints or specifications to determine work requirements.

#11576 · Core · 5% automatable

Connect car frames to counterweights, using steel cables.

physical manipulation — Physical assembly of products by hand

Assemble products or production equipment.

#11573 · Core · 80% automatable

Maintain log books that detail all repairs and checks performed.

data analysis — Record operational or environmental data into logs

Record operational or environmental data.

#11568 · Core · 8% automatable

Connect electrical wiring to control panels and electric motors.

physical manipulation — Electrical installation is hands-on licensed trade work

Install electrical components, equipment, or systems.

#11565 · Core · 18% automatable

Test newly installed equipment to ensure that it meets specifications, such as stopping at floors for set amounts of time.

visual inspection — Direct physical inspection of industrial equipment

Inspect industrial or commercial equipment to ensure proper operation.

#11574 · Core · 80% automatable

Participate in additional training to keep skills up to date.

information retrieval — AI delivers updates; human must actually learn

Update job related knowledge or skills.

#11582 · Core · 23% automatable

Operate elevators to determine power demands, and test power consumption to detect overload factors.

data analysis — Electrical testing requires hands-on instrument use

Inspect industrial or commercial equipment to ensure proper operation. Test electrical equipment or systems to ensure proper functioning.

#11580 · Core · 9% automatable

Install electrical wires and controls by attaching conduit along shaft walls from floor to floor and pulling plastic-covered wires through the conduit.

physical manipulation — Threading wire through conduits is manual

Install electrical components, equipment, or systems. Thread wire or cable through ducts or conduits.

#11575 · Core · 5% automatable

Attach guide shoes and rollers to minimize the lateral motion of cars as they travel through shafts.

physical manipulation — Physical assembly of products by hand

Assemble products or production equipment.

#11579 · Core · 3% automatable

Install outer doors and door frames at elevator entrances on each floor of a structure.

physical manipulation — Metal structural installation is hands-on

Install metal structural components.

#11578 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Assemble elevator cars, installing each car's platform, walls, and doors.

physical manipulation — Physical assembly of products by hand

Assemble products or production equipment.

#11577 · Supplemental · 7% automatable

Bolt or weld steel rails to the walls of shafts to guide elevators, working from scaffolding or platforms.

physical manipulation — Welding is skilled hands-on metalwork

Install metal structural components. Weld metal components.

#11583 · Supplemental · 7% automatable

Assemble electrically powered stairs, steel frameworks, and tracks, and install associated motors and electrical wiring.

physical manipulation — Electrical installation is hands-on licensed trade work

Assemble products or production equipment. Install electrical components, equipment, or systems.

#11581 · Supplemental · 6% automatable

Cut prefabricated sections of framework, rails, and other components to specified dimensions.

physical manipulation — Metal cutting with tools, hands-on

Cut metal components for installation.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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