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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers?
Task-level automation exposure for Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers: 26 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
14%
weighted task index
26 of 26 tasks scored
Median Salary
$37,800 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
7,450 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-6.5%
employment change
1,000 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 28 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$26,340 – $52,520
Highest medians
Tennessee $52,520
Washington $48,310
New Jersey $46,790
Massachusetts $46,550
Arizona $45,510
Lowest medians
Mississippi $26,340
Texas $30,620
Oklahoma $30,720
Georgia $32,470
Pennsylvania $34,870
State figures come from the 51-6041 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 14%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 85%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 13%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 0%
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 11/100
Low
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) 4%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 10%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 87%
22 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
#14065 · Core · 7% automatable
Dye, soak, polish, paint, stamp, stitch, stain, buff, or engrave leather or other materials to obtain desired effects, decorations, or shapes.
physical manipulation — Physical fabric/material preparation
Sew clothing or other articles. Prepare fabrics or materials for processing or production.
#14062 · Core · 6% automatable
Cut out parts, following patterns or outlines, using knives, shears, scissors, or machine presses.
physical manipulation — Fabric cutting needs manual dexterity
Cut fabrics.
#14063 · Core · 10% automatable
Construct, decorate, or repair leather products according to specifications, using sewing machines, needles and thread, leather lacing, glue, clamps, hand tools, or rivets.
physical manipulation — Attaching accessories requires manual fitting
Attach decorative or functional accessories to products.
#14074 · Core · 4% automatable
Repair and recondition leather products such as trunks, luggage, shoes, saddles, belts, purses, and baseball gloves.
physical manipulation — Textile repair needs hands-on dexterity
Repair textiles or apparel.
#14064 · Core · 5% automatable
Align and stitch or glue materials such as fabric, fleece, leather, or wood, to join parts.
physical manipulation — Aligning parts for assembly needs hands and judgment
Sew clothing or other articles. Align parts or workpieces to ensure proper assembly.
#14079 · Core · 25% automatable
Inspect articles for defects, and remove damaged or worn parts, using hand tools.
visual inspection — Garment defect inspection needs physical handling
Inspect garments for defects, damage, or stains.
#14080 · Core · 11% automatable
Drill or punch holes and insert or attach metal rings, handles, and fastening hardware, such as buckles.
physical manipulation — Drilling parts requires physical tool operation
Attach decorative or functional accessories to products. Drill holes in parts, equipment, or materials.
#14087 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Prepare inserts, heel pads, and lifts from casts of customers' feet.
physical manipulation — Sewing and assembling textiles needs fine dexterity
Assemble garments or textile products.
#14067 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Dress and otherwise finish boots or shoes, as by trimming the edges of new soles and heels to the shoe shape.
physical manipulation — Manual trimming of workpieces
Trim excess material from workpieces.
#14069 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Attach insoles to shoe lasts, affix shoe uppers, and apply heels and outsoles.
physical manipulation — Sewing and assembling textiles needs fine dexterity
Assemble garments or textile products.
#14076 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Clean and polish shoes.
physical manipulation — Manual application of solutions to fabrics
Apply water or solutions to fabrics or apparel. Polish materials, workpieces, or finished products.
#14070 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Cement, nail, or sew soles and heels to shoes.
physical manipulation — Sewing and assembling textiles needs fine dexterity
Assemble garments or textile products.
#14077 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Check the texture, color, and strength of leather to ensure that it is adequate for a particular purpose.
visual inspection — Material quality often needs hands-on or visual inspection
Evaluate quality of materials or products.
#14071 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Shape shoe heels with a knife, and sand them on a buffing wheel for smoothness.
physical manipulation — Adjusting fabric is tactile manual work
Adjust fabrics or other materials during garment production.
#14075 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Place shoes on lasts to remove soles and heels, using knives or pliers.
physical manipulation — Mounting workpieces is physical loading
Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment.
#14072 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Repair or replace soles, heels, and other parts of footwear, using sewing, buffing and other shoe repair machines, materials, and equipment.
physical manipulation — Operating sewing equipment is manual machine work
Repair textiles or apparel. Operate sewing equipment.
#14082 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Cut, insert, position, and secure paddings, cushioning, or linings, using stitches or glue.
physical manipulation — Fabric cutting needs manual dexterity
Cut fabrics.
#14068 · Supplemental · 78% automatable
Estimate the costs of requested products or services such as custom footwear or footwear repair, and receive payment from customers.
data analysis — Cost estimation from inputs; human validates
Estimate costs of products, services, or materials.
#14083 · Supplemental · 39% automatable
Draw patterns, using measurements, designs, plaster casts, or customer specifications, and position or outline patterns on work pieces.
visual inspection — Generates template designs; aesthetic fit needs human review
Design templates or patterns. Position patterns on equipment, materials, or workpieces.
#14086 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Nail heel and toe cleats onto shoes.
physical manipulation — Sewing and assembling textiles needs fine dexterity
Assemble garments or textile products.
#14088 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Re-sew seams, and replace handles and linings of suitcases or handbags.
physical manipulation — Sewing clothing requires fine manual dexterity
Sew clothing or other articles. Repair textiles or apparel.
#14085 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Stretch shoes, dampening parts and inserting and twisting parts, using an adjustable stretcher.
physical manipulation — Textile repair needs hands-on dexterity
Repair textiles or apparel.
#14078 · Supplemental · 50% automatable
Read prescriptions or specifications, and take measurements to establish the type of product to be made, using calipers, tape measures, or rules.
information retrieval — Parse specs and materials from orders
Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements. Measure clients to ensure proper product fit.
#14081 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Attach accessories or ornamentation to decorate or protect products.
physical manipulation — Attaching accessories requires manual fitting
Attach decorative or functional accessories to products.
#14073 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Make, modify, and repair orthopedic or therapeutic footwear according to doctors' prescriptions, or modify existing footwear for people with foot problems and special needs.
physical manipulation — Customized device construction is hands-on fabrication
Construct customized assistive medical or dental devices.
#14066 · Supplemental · 33% automatable
Select materials and patterns, and trace patterns onto materials to be cut out.
decision support — Input material selection from specs; human approves
Select production input materials. Draw guide lines or markings on materials or workpieces using patterns or other references.
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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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