Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

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

AI Resistance Index 85 of 99

Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 85% 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 +2.4% 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): $42,360
Job growth to 2035: +2.4%
Openings a year: 4,400
People doing it (2025): 45,300
Usual route in: High school diploma, then short on-the-job training

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Where people already use AI for this work

Maintain facilities or equipment
Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
Purchase goods or services

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Cut materials
Perform general construction or extraction activities
Install plumbing or piping equipment or systems

What the work looks like

Fit or assist in fitting valves, couplings, or assemblies to tanks, pumps, or systems, using hand tools.
Mount brackets and hangers on walls and ceilings to hold pipes, and set sleeves or inserts to provide support for pipes.
Perform rough-ins, repair and replace fixtures and water heaters, and locate, repair, or remove leaking or broken pipes.
Cut pipe and lift up to fitters.
Measure, cut, thread and assemble new pipe, placing the assembled pipe in hangers or other supports.

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 pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%
Extraction workers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 89, +3.4%
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleanersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.8%
Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tilesHuman edge, growing, Index 92, +9.0%

Also known as: Pipefitter Helper, Plumber Helper, Plumbing Apprentice, Plumbing Helper, Plumber Apprentice, Plumber Assistant, Plumbing Residential Apprentice.

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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.