Career Explorer Engineering and architecture
Changing shape
Electrical and electronics drafters
Prepare wiring diagrams, circuit board assembly diagrams, and layout drawings used for the manufacture, installation, or repair of electrical equipment.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 3% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by -3.4% by 2035, expected to shrink.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $76,870
- Job growth to 2035
- -3.4%
- Openings a year
- 1,400
- People doing it (2025)
- 18,900
- Usual route in
- Associate's degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
- Create visual designs or displays
- Coordinate with others to resolve problems
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Design electrical or electronic systems or equipment
- Supervise personnel activities
- Train others on operational or work procedures
What the work looks like
- Draft detail and assembly drawings of design components, circuitry or printed circuit boards, using computer-assisted equipment or standard drafting techniques and devices.
- Draft working drawings, wiring diagrams, wiring connection specifications, or cross-sections of underground cables, as required for instructions to installation crew.
- Assemble documentation packages and produce drawing sets to be checked by an engineer or an architect.
- Review completed construction drawings and cost estimates for accuracy and conformity to standards and regulations.
- Consult with engineers to discuss or interpret design concepts, or determine requirements of detailed working drawings.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as software capabilities allow drafters to perform work more rapidly.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Civil engineering technologists and techniciansChanging shape, Index 17, +3.2%
- Environmental engineering technologists and techniciansChanging shape, Index 26, +3.1%
- Cartographers and photogrammetristsGrows with AI, Index 32, +7.4%
- Property appraisers and assessorsGrows with AI, Index 11, +3.5%
Also known as: Computer-Aided Design Operator, Drafter, Electrical Designer, Staking Technician (Staking Tech), Designer, Drafting Technician (Drafting Tech), Electrical Drafter, Layout Designer.
Is this career on your child's list?
Build a free Career Playbook matched to your child, or get a 90-day Action Plan with dated next steps, written for your child by name.
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.