Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Helpers--production workers
Help production workers by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include supplying or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 49% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by -8.2% 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)
- $39,070
- Job growth to 2035
- -8.2%
- Openings a year
- 20,900
- People doing it (2025)
- 167,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Remove workpieces from production equipment
- Operate industrial processing or production equipment
- Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing
What the work looks like
- Lift raw materials, finished products, and packed items, manually or using hoists.
- Mark or tag identification on parts.
- Observe equipment operations so that malfunctions can be detected, and notify operators of any malfunctions.
- Count finished products to determine if product orders are complete.
- Examine products to verify conformance to quality standards.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as automation continues to replace production worker helpers in manufacturing facilities.
- Fewer of these jobs, as manufacturing facilities require fewer of these helpers as facilities become more automated.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 76, +3.4%
- Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 62, +0.4%
- Cleaners of vehicles and equipmentHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +3.9%
- Ophthalmic laboratory techniciansHuman edge, steady, Index 68, +2.2%
Also known as: Control Room Helper, Press Helper, Production Helper, Welder Helper, Assembly Line Worker, Laminator Helper, Machine Helper, Machine Operator 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.