Fallers

Use axes or chainsaws to fell trees using knowledge of tree characteristics and cutting techniques to control direction of fall and minimize tree damage.

AI Resistance Index 63 of 99

More resilient than most: more resilient than 63% 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 -9.9% 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): $52,100
Job growth to 2035: -9.9%
Openings a year: 500
People doing it (2025): 4,300
Usual route in: High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training

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Where people already use AI for this work

Determine operational methods or procedures
Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
Set up equipment

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Cut trees or other vegetation
Operate agricultural or forestry equipment
Evaluate production inputs or outputs

What the work looks like

Saw back-cuts, leaving sufficient sound wood to control direction of fall.
Control the direction of a tree's fall by scoring cutting lines with axes, sawing undercuts along scored lines with chainsaws, knocking slabs from cuts with single-bit axes, and driving wedges.
Stop saw engines, pull cutting bars from cuts, and run to safety as tree falls.
Select trees to be cut down, assessing factors such as site, terrain, and weather conditions before beginning work.
Measure felled trees and cut them into specified log lengths, using chain saws and axes.

From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects

Fewer of these jobs, as logging equipment operators will continue to take over some of the tasks performed by fallers due increased mechanization.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

Adhesive bonding machine operators and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 73, +1.3%
Signal and track switch repairersHuman edge, steady, Index 78, +1.8%
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 73, +2.6%
Helpers--roofersHuman edge, steady, Index 74, -0.1%

Also known as: Logger, Timber Cutter, Timber Faller, Tree Faller, Bucker, Cutter Operator, Feller, Sawyer.

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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.