Career Explorer Installation and repair
Human edge, growing
Commercial divers
Work below surface of water, using surface-supplied air or scuba equipment to inspect, repair, remove, or install equipment and structures. May use a variety of power and hand tools, such as drills, sledgehammers, torches, and welding equipment. May conduct tests or experiments, rig explosives, or photograph structures or marine life.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 97% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +4.8% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on physical dexterity and ethical judgement.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $72,990
- Job growth to 2035
- +4.8%
- Openings a year
- 400
- People doing it (2025)
- 4,000
- Usual route in
- College certificate, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Maintain facilities or equipment
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
- Test performance of equipment or systems
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Inspect commercial, industrial, or production systems or equipment
- Monitor safety or security of work areas, facilities, or properties
What the work looks like
- Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.
- Take appropriate safety precautions, such as monitoring dive lengths and depths and registering with authorities before diving expeditions begin.
- Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.
- Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.
- Inspect and test docks, ships, buoyage systems, plant intakes or outflows, or underwater pipelines, cables, or sewers, using closed circuit television, still photography, and testing equipment.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except enginesHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +6.7%
- Aircraft mechanics and service techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 98, +5.4%
- Wind turbine service techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +29.5%
- Manufactured building and mobile home installersHuman edge, growing, Index 98, +5.8%
Also known as: Diver, Diver Tender, Salvage Diver, Saturation Diver, Diving Coordinator, Hard Hat Diver, NDT UW Welder (Non Destructive Testing Under Water Welder).
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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.