Career Explorer Transport and logistics
Human edge, steady
Hoist and winch operators
Operate or tend hoists or winches to lift and pull loads using power-operated cable equipment.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 69% 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 +0.2% 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)
- $56,450
- Job growth to 2035
- +0.2%
- Openings a year
- 300
- People doing it (2025)
- 3,200
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
- Connect components or supply lines to equipment or tools
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Operate lifting or moving equipment
- Monitor equipment operation
- Maintain vehicles in working condition
What the work looks like
- Operate compressed air, diesel, electric, gasoline, or steam-driven hoists or winches to control movement of cableways, cages, derricks, draglines, loaders, railcars, or skips.
- Signal and assist other workers loading or unloading materials.
- Observe equipment gauges and indicators and hand signals of other workers to verify load positions or depths.
- Start engines of hoists or winches and use levers and pedals to wind or unwind cable on drums.
- Apply hand or foot brakes and move levers to lock hoists or winches.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as the expansion of automated lifting systems eliminates some of the tasks previously performed by hoist and winch operators.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Industrial truck and tractor operatorsHuman edge, steady, Index 82, +1.5%
- Aircraft service attendantsHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +5.6%
- Packaging and filling machine operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +4.1%
- Transportation workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 83, +4.0%
Also known as: Hoist Operator, Hoistman, Service Operator, Winch Derrick Operator, Hoisting Operator, Winchman.
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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.