AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Structural Iron and Steel Workers?

Task-level automation exposure for Structural Iron and Steel Workers: 20 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

11% weighted task index

20 of 20 tasks scored

Median Salary

$62,780 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

68,380 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+3.1% employment change

5,900 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 52 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$29,620 – $120,840

Highest medians

Massachusetts $120,840

New Jersey $113,220

Washington $107,660

Illinois $101,850

Hawaii $99,860

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $29,620

Guam $33,660

Arkansas $45,510

Wyoming $47,480

Oklahoma $47,660

State figures come from the 47-2221 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 11%

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

Physical work 88%

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 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 18/100 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

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) 7%

1 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 0%

0 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 93%

19 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

#11544 · Core · 70% automatable

Read specifications or blueprints to determine the locations, quantities, or sizes of materials required.

visual inspection — Specs reading aided, human validates requirements

Review blueprints or specifications to determine work requirements.

#11545 · Core · 18% automatable

Verify vertical and horizontal alignment of structural steel members, using plumb bobs, laser equipment, transits, or levels.

physical manipulation — Alignment verification needs physical measurement tools

Verify alignment of structures or equipment.

#11556 · Core · 3% automatable

Erect metal or precast concrete components for structures, such as buildings, bridges, dams, towers, storage tanks, fences, or highway guard rails.

physical manipulation — Metal structural installation is hands-on

Install metal structural components.

#11548 · Core · 3% automatable

Bolt aligned structural steel members in position for permanent riveting, bolting, or welding into place.

physical manipulation — Metal structural installation is hands-on

Install metal structural components.

#24053 · Core · 10% automatable

Assemble or inspect hoisting equipment or rigging, such as cables, pulleys, or hooks, to move heavy equipment or materials.

physical manipulation — Erecting temporary structures requires physical assembly

Assemble temporary equipment or structures.

#24054 · Core · 8% automatable

Lift steel beams, girders, or columns using cranes or forklifts, or by signaling hoisting equipment operators to lift or position structural steel members.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment. Signal equipment operators to indicate proper equipment positioning.

#11550 · Core · 10% automatable

Fabricate metal parts, such as steel frames, columns, beams, or girders, according to blueprints or instructions from supervisors.

physical manipulation — Part fabrication requires physical machining and handling

Fabricate parts or components.

#11546 · Core · 3% automatable

Connect columns, beams, and girders with bolts, following blueprints and instructions from supervisors.

physical manipulation — Metal structural installation is hands-on

Install metal structural components.

#11551 · Core · 5% automatable

Pull, push, or pry structural steel members into approximate positions for bolting into place.

physical manipulation — Positioning structural components is physical labor

Position structural components.

#11557 · Core · 4% automatable

Unload and position prefabricated steel units for hoisting, as needed.

physical manipulation — Positioning structural components is physical labor

Load or unload materials used in construction or extraction. Position structural components.

#11553 · Core · 10% automatable

Fasten structural steel members to hoist cables, using chains, cables, or rope.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.

#11552 · Core · 8% automatable

Cut, bend, or weld steel pieces, using metal shears, torches, or welding equipment.

physical manipulation — Welding is skilled hands-on metalwork

Cut metal components for installation. Weld metal components.

#11555 · Core · 3% automatable

Force structural steel members into final positions, using turnbuckles, crowbars, jacks, or hand tools.

physical manipulation — Metal structural installation is hands-on

Install metal structural components.

#11549 · Core · 5% automatable

Ride on girders or other structural steel members to position them, or use rope to guide them into position.

physical manipulation — Positioning structural components is physical labor

Position structural components.

#11558 · Core · 3% automatable

Drive drift pins through rivet holes to align rivet holes in structural steel members with corresponding holes in previously placed members.

physical manipulation — Metal structural installation is hands-on

Install metal structural components.

#11559 · Core · 6% automatable

Dismantle structures or equipment.

physical manipulation — Dismantling structures is heavy physical labor

Dismantle equipment or temporary structures.

#11560 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Insert sealing strips, wiring, insulating material, ladders, flanges, gauges, or valves, depending on types of structures being assembled.

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

Install insulation in equipment or structures. Install gauges or controls. Install electrical components, equipment, or systems.

#11562 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Place blocks under reinforcing bars used to reinforce floors.

physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of safety equipment in field

Position safety or support equipment.

#11563 · Supplemental · 6% automatable

Hold rivets while riveters use air hammers to form heads on rivets.

physical manipulation — Physical assisting of skilled trades on site

Assist skilled construction or extraction personnel.

#11561 · Supplemental · 7% automatable

Catch hot rivets in buckets and insert rivets in holes, using tongs.

physical manipulation — Drilling construction materials is hands-on tool work

Remove debris or damaged materials. Drill holes in construction materials. Rivet metal components.

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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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