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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Maintenance Workers, Machinery?
Task-level automation exposure for Maintenance Workers, Machinery: 18 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
26%
weighted task index
18 of 18 tasks scored
Median Salary
$60,850 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
60,020 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-1.9%
employment change
4,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 47 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$36,240 – $84,620
Highest medians
Wyoming $84,620
New Hampshire $77,070
Kentucky $76,710
Nevada $75,500
Rhode Island $72,040
Lowest medians
New Mexico $36,240
Puerto Rico $37,870
South Dakota $45,240
Indiana $48,760
Florida $51,900
State figures come from the 49-9043 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 26%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 65%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 0%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 6%
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 52/100
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
18 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%) 12%
2 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 71%
13 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 →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 08/2024 · Incumbent
Troubleshoot electrical, hydraulic, or mechanical equipment and machines.
Constituent Tasks
#11833 · Core · 8% automatable
Dismantle machines and remove parts for repair, using hand tools, chain falls, jacks, cranes, or hoists.
physical manipulation — Disassembly requires hands-on tool use
Disassemble equipment for maintenance or repair.
#11828 · Core · 5% automatable
Reassemble machines after the completion of repair or maintenance work.
physical manipulation — Reassembly after repair requires hands-on fitting
Reassemble equipment after repair.
#11834 · Core · 80% automatable
Record production, repair, and machine maintenance information.
text generation — Log maintenance and repair records from data
Maintain repair or maintenance records.
#11831 · Core · 12% automatable
Lubricate or apply adhesives or other materials to machines, machine parts, or other equipment according to specified procedures.
physical manipulation — Physical lubrication task requiring hands and access
Lubricate equipment to allow proper functioning.
#11832 · Core · 5% automatable
Install, replace, or change machine parts and attachments, according to production specifications.
physical manipulation — Replacing machine parts requires hands and tools
Install machine or equipment replacement parts.
#11836 · Core · 15% automatable
Set up and operate machines, and adjust controls to regulate operations.
physical manipulation — Hands-on equipment adjustment for performance
Adjust equipment to ensure optimal performance.
#11837 · Core · 50% automatable
Collaborate with other workers to repair or move machines, machine parts, or equipment.
decision support — Equipment diagnosis aided; hands-on fix is human
Confer with coworkers to resolve equipment problems.
#11835 · Core · 60% automatable
Read work orders and specifications to determine machines and equipment requiring repair or maintenance.
decision support — Diagnosis from description aided, repair judgment human
Read work orders or descriptions of problems to determine repairs or modifications needed.
#11830 · Core · 30% automatable
Inspect or test damaged machine parts, and mark defective areas or advise supervisors of repair needs.
interpersonal — Install/repair coordination is situated teamwork
Inspect mechanical equipment to locate damage, defects, or wear. Test mechanical equipment to ensure proper functioning. Communicate with coworkers to coordinate installations or repairs.
#11829 · Core · 40% automatable
Start machines and observe mechanical operation to determine efficiency and to detect problems.
visual inspection — Detecting subtle equipment problems needs on-site sensory judgment
Observe equipment in operation to detect potential problems.
#11839 · Core · 10% automatable
Transport machine parts, tools, equipment, and other material between work areas and storage, using cranes, hoists, or dollies.
physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control
Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
#11840 · Core · 5% automatable
Collect and discard worn machine parts and other refuse to maintain machinery and work areas.
physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of work areas
Clean work areas.
#11838 · Core · 73% automatable
Inventory and requisition machine parts, equipment, and other supplies so that stock can be maintained and replenished.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products. Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#11843 · Core · 10% automatable
Remove hardened material from machines or machine parts, using abrasives, power and hand tools, jackhammers, sledgehammers, or other equipment.
physical manipulation — Cleaning parts for repair needs hands-on dexterity
Clean equipment, parts, or tools to repair or maintain them in good working order.
#11845 · Core · 10% automatable
Replace, empty, or replenish machine and equipment containers such as gas tanks or boxes.
physical manipulation — Physical placement of containers for material flow
Position containers to receive materials or workpieces.
#11841 · Core · 10% automatable
Clean machines and machine parts, using cleaning solvents, cloths, air guns, hoses, vacuums, or other equipment.
physical manipulation — Cleaning parts for repair needs hands-on dexterity
Clean equipment, parts, or tools to repair or maintain them in good working order.
#11842 · Core · 10% automatable
Replace or repair metal, wood, leather, glass, or other lining in machines, or in equipment compartments or containers.
physical manipulation — Manual replacement of mechanical parts
Replace worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts. Repair worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.
#11844 · Supplemental · 19% automatable
Measure, mix, prepare, and test chemical solutions used to clean or repair machinery and equipment.
physical manipulation — Fluid testing requires lab equipment handling
Test fluids to identify contamination or other problems. Prepare compounds or solutions to be used for repairs.
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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
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