Career Explorer Construction and trades
Human edge, steady
Helpers, construction trades, all other
All construction trades helpers not listed separately.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 70% 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 -1.0% 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)
- $42,670
- Job growth to 2035
- -1.0%
- Openings a year
- 2,300
- People doing it (2025)
- 25,200
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
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.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Extraction workers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 89, +3.4%
- Underground mining machine operators, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 71, -1.0%
- Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%
- Cement masons and concrete finishersHuman edge, steady, Index 78, +1.6%
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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.