Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Engine and other machine assemblers
Construct, assemble, or rebuild machines, such as engines, turbines, and similar equipment used in such industries as construction, extraction, textiles, and paper manufacturing.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 31% 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 -17.0% by 2035, expected to shrink. 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)
- $53,710
- Job growth to 2035
- -17.0%
- Openings a year
- 2,100
- People doing it (2025)
- 33,500
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Set up equipment
- Plan work activities
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Position materials or components for assembly
- Assemble equipment or components
- Inspect completed work or finished products
What the work looks like
- Read and interpret assembly blueprints or specifications manuals, and plan assembly or building operations.
- Inspect, operate, and test completed products to verify functioning, machine capabilities, or conformance to customer specifications.
- Position or align components for assembly, manually or using hoists.
- Set and verify parts clearances.
- Verify conformance of parts to stock lists or blueprints, using measuring instruments such as calipers, gauges, or micrometers.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as an expected increase in the use of collaborative robotics in production increases efficiency, allowing more output to be produced with the same amount of labor.
- Fewer of these jobs, as collaborative robotics increase efficiency, allowing more output to be produced with the same amount of labor. An expected increase in electric vehicle (EV) production and reduction in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle production should lower demand for internal combustion engines and parts, and in turn, engine assemblers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Print binding and finishing workersHuman edge, steady, Index 37, -17.5%
- Food processing workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +5.5%
- Production workers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 79, +0.8%
- Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishersHuman edge, growing, Index 73, +5.0%
Also known as: Assembler, Assembly Line Worker, Engine Assembler, Machine Assembler, Cell Technician, Engine Builder, Field Service Technician, Fitter.
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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.