Career Explorer Construction and trades
Human edge, steady
Brickmasons and blockmasons
Lay and bind building materials, such as brick, structural tile, concrete block, cinder block, glass block, and terra-cotta block, with mortar and other substances, to construct or repair walls, partitions, arches, sewers, and other structures.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 57% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +1.1% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $62,120
- Job growth to 2035
- +1.1%
- Openings a year
- 4,100
- People doing it (2025)
- 62,400
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then an apprenticeship
Where people already use AI for this work
- Plan work activities
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Build structures
- Apply materials to fill gaps or imperfections
- Position materials or components for assembly
What the work looks like
- Measure distance from reference points and mark guidelines to lay out work, using plumb bobs and levels.
- Construct corners by fastening in plumb position a corner pole or building a corner pyramid of bricks, and filling in between the corners using a line from corner to corner to guide each course, or layer, of brick.
- Apply and smooth mortar or other mixture over work surface.
- Calculate angles and courses and determine vertical and horizontal alignment of courses.
- Break or cut bricks, tiles, or blocks to size, using trowel edge, hammer, or power saw.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as the increasing use of offsite manufactured prefabricated panels instead of onsite smaller bricks reduces the number of these workers needed onsite to install.
- More of these jobs, as more brick veneer work is prepared offsite and panels are shipped from factories.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Helpers--carpentersHuman edge, steady, Index 71, -1.7%
- Insulation workers, mechanicalHuman edge, growing, Index 61, +5.1%
- Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfittersHuman edge, steady, Index 85, +2.4%
- Painters, construction and maintenanceHuman edge, steady, Index 71, +3.0%
Also known as: Block Layer, Brick and Block Mason, Bricklayer, Mason, Block Mason, Blockmason, Brick Mason, Masonry Installer.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.