Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators?
Task-level automation exposure for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators: 26 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
19%
weighted task index
26 of 26 tasks scored
Median Salary
$59,850 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
478,090 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+4.6%
employment change
39,200 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$29,810 – $115,860
Highest medians
Hawaii $115,860
Illinois $97,740
New Jersey $89,660
California $87,160
Washington $81,700
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $29,810
Guam $39,170
Arkansas $44,520
Mississippi $47,410
Alabama $47,520
State figures come from the 47-2073 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 19%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 69%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 9%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 4%
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 95/100
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
26 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) 13%
3 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 0%
0 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 87%
23 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
#9849 · Core · 80% automatable
Learn and follow safety regulations.
information retrieval — AI delivers updates; human must actually learn
Update job related knowledge or skills.
#9850 · Core · 8% automatable
Take actions to avoid potential hazards or obstructions, such as utility lines, other equipment, other workers, or falling objects.
physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of heavy construction equipment
Position construction or extraction equipment.
#9852 · Core · 8% automatable
Start engines, move throttles, switches, or levers, or depress pedals to operate machines, such as bulldozers, trench excavators, road graders, or backhoes.
physical manipulation — Vehicles and equipment driven in unstructured sites
Operate equipment or vehicles to clear construction sites or move materials.
#9858 · Core · 8% automatable
Coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.
physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of heavy construction equipment
Move construction or extraction materials to locations where they are needed. Position construction or extraction equipment.
#9855 · Core · 8% automatable
Align machines, cutterheads, or depth gauge makers with reference stakes and guidelines or ground or position equipment, following hand signals of other workers.
physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of heavy construction equipment
Position construction or extraction equipment.
#9853 · Core · 22% automatable
Locate underground services, such as pipes or wires, prior to beginning work.
visual inspection — Physical locating of worn parts needs hands-on presence
Locate equipment or materials in need of repair or replacement.
#9868 · Core · 5% automatable
Signal operators to guide movement of tractor-drawn machines.
physical manipulation — Directing equipment operators via physical signals
Signal equipment operators to indicate proper equipment positioning.
#9860 · Core · 10% automatable
Repair and maintain equipment, making emergency adjustments or assisting with major repairs as necessary.
physical manipulation — Physical maintenance of construction tools
Maintain construction tools or equipment.
#9856 · Core · 3% automatable
Load and move dirt, rocks, equipment, or other materials, using trucks, crawler tractors, power cranes, shovels, graders, or related equipment.
physical manipulation — Physical loading in construction or extraction
Load or unload materials used in construction or extraction.
#9857 · Core · 8% automatable
Drive and maneuver equipment equipped with blades in successive passes over working areas to remove topsoil, vegetation, or rocks or to distribute and level earth or terrain.
physical manipulation — Vehicles and equipment driven in unstructured sites
Operate equipment or vehicles to clear construction sites or move materials.
#9859 · Core · 8% automatable
Operate tractors or bulldozers to perform such tasks as clearing land, mixing sludge, trimming backfills, or building roadways or parking lots.
physical manipulation — Vehicles and equipment driven in unstructured sites
Operate equipment or vehicles to clear construction sites or move materials.
#9854 · Core · 28% automatable
Monitor operations to ensure that health and safety standards are met.
visual inspection — Construction oversight requires on-site physical presence
Monitor construction operations.
#9862 · Core · 5% automatable
Connect hydraulic hoses, belts, mechanical linkages, or power takeoff shafts to tractors.
physical manipulation — Hands-on equipment attachment
Install equipment attachments or components.
#9864 · Core · 28% automatable
Select and fasten bulldozer blades or other attachments to tractors, using hitches.
decision support — Construction equipment selection needs site and safety judgment
Select construction equipment. Install equipment attachments or components.
#9863 · Core · 8% automatable
Operate loaders to pull out stumps, rip asphalt or concrete, rough-grade properties, bury refuse, or perform general cleanup.
physical manipulation — Vehicles and equipment driven in unstructured sites
Operate equipment or vehicles to clear construction sites or move materials.
#9875 · Core · 3% automatable
Operate equipment to demolish or remove debris or to remove snow from streets, roads, or parking lots.
physical manipulation — Manual clearing of debris and vegetation outdoors
Remove debris or vegetation from work sites.
#9872 · Core · 80% automatable
Keep records of material or equipment usage or problems encountered.
data analysis — Record operational or environmental data into logs
Record operational or environmental data.
#9851 · Core · 8% automatable
Adjust handwheels and depress pedals to control attachments, such as blades, buckets, scrapers, or swing booms.
physical manipulation — Heavy construction equipment operated manually
Operate heavy-duty construction or installation equipment.
#9861 · Supplemental · 28% automatable
Check fuel supplies at sites to ensure adequate availability.
visual inspection — Construction oversight requires on-site physical presence
Monitor construction operations.
#9867 · Supplemental · 61% automatable
Talk to clients and study instructions, plans, or diagrams to establish work requirements.
visual inspection — Specs reading aided, human validates requirements
Review blueprints or specifications to determine work requirements. Communicate with clients about products, procedures, and policies.
#9873 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Drive tractor-trailer trucks to move equipment from site to site.
situated mobility — Truck driving needs real-world navigation and control
Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment.
#9871 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Push other equipment when extra traction or assistance is required.
physical manipulation — Physical assisting of skilled trades on site
Assist skilled construction or extraction personnel.
#9869 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Operate road watering, oiling, or rolling equipment, or street sealing equipment, such as chip spreaders.
physical manipulation — Road-surfacing equipment operated manually
Operate road-surfacing equipment.
#9866 · Supplemental · 7% automatable
Operate compactors, scrapers, or rollers to level, compact, or cover refuse at disposal grounds.
physical manipulation — Operating compaction equipment by hand on site
Compact materials to create level bases.
#9865 · Supplemental · 25% automatable
Test atmosphere for adequate oxygen or explosive conditions when working in confined spaces.
physical manipulation — Air sampling requires on-site instrument operation
Test air quality at work sites.
#9874 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Turn valves to control air or water output of compressors or pumps.
physical manipulation — Hands-on pump and compressor operation
Operate pumps or compressors.
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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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