Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators
Work as part of a team having responsibility for assembling an entire product or component of a product. Team assemblers can perform all tasks conducted by the team in the assembly process and rotate through all or most of them, rather than being assigned to a specific task on a permanent basis. May participate in making management decisions affecting the work. Includes team leaders who work as part of the team.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 53% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by +1.1% 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)
- $44,650
- Job growth to 2035
- +1.1%
- Openings a year
- 139,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 1.4 million
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
- Plan work activities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Evaluate production inputs or outputs
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures
What the work looks like
- Perform quality checks on products and parts.
- Review work orders and blueprints to ensure work is performed according to specifications.
- Provide assistance in the production of wiring assemblies.
- Maintain production equipment and machinery.
- Rotate through all the tasks required in a particular production process.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Semiconductor processing techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 87, +8.2%
- Shoe and leather workers and repairersHuman edge, steady, Index 54, -6.5%
- Structural metal fabricators and fittersHuman edge, steady, Index 54, -6.2%
- Food processing workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +5.5%
Also known as: Assembler, Assembly Line Machine Operator, Assembly Line Worker, Assembly Technician, Assembly Associate, Assembly Operator, Certified Composites Technician (CCT), Manufacturing Associate.
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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.