Career Explorer Construction and trades
Human edge, steady
Helpers--electricians
Help electricians by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 81% 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 +0.6% by 2035, slower than average. 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
- +0.6%
- Openings a year
- 6,100
- People doing it (2025)
- 65,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Connect components or supply lines to equipment or tools
- Test performance of equipment or systems
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Install commercial or production equipment
- Repair electrical or electronic equipment
- Fabricate devices or components
What the work looks like
- Strip insulation from wire ends, using wire stripping pliers, and attach wires to terminals for subsequent soldering.
- Trace out short circuits in wiring, using test meter.
- Measure, cut, and bend wire and conduit, using measuring instruments and hand tools.
- Examine electrical units for loose connections and broken insulation and tighten connections, using hand tools.
- Maintain tools, vehicles, and equipment and keep parts and supplies in order.
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 electricians.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Helpers--extraction workersHuman edge, steady, Index 92, +1.7%
- Derrick operators, oil and gasHuman edge, steady, Index 87, +1.6%
- RoofersHuman edge, growing, Index 94, +5.3%
- Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%
Also known as: Electrical Apprentice, Electrician Apprentice, Electrician Helper, Electrician's Helper, Apprentice, E and I Apprentice (Electrical and Instrumentation Apprentice), E and I Apprentice (Electrician and Instrumentation Apprentice), Electrical 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.