Helpers--carpenters

Help carpenters by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.

AI Resistance Index 71 of 99

More resilient than most: more resilient than 71% 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 -1.7% 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): $43,780
Job growth to 2035: -1.7%
Openings a year: 2,000
People doing it (2025): 21,900
Usual route in: No formal credential, then short on-the-job training

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Where people already use AI for this work

Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Build structures
Position materials or components for assembly
Perform general construction or extraction activities

What the work looks like

Erect scaffolding, shoring, or braces.
Clean work areas, machines, or equipment, to maintain a clean and safe job site.
Align, straighten, plumb, or square forms for installation.
Select tools, equipment, or materials from storage and transport items to work site.
Construct forms and assist in raising them to the required elevation.

From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects

Fewer of these jobs, as construction laborers are increasingly assigned helpers tasks because they can support various trades, including carpenters.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfittersHuman edge, steady, Index 85, +2.4%
Extraction workers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 89, +3.4%
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleanersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.8%
Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%

Also known as: Carpenter Apprentice, Carpenter Assistant, Carpenter Helper.

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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.