Career Explorer Construction and trades
Human edge, steady
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers
Position and secure steel bars or mesh in concrete forms in order to reinforce concrete. Use a variety of fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, and hand tools. Includes rod busters.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 55% 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 -5.3% 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)
- $58,970
- Job growth to 2035
- -5.3%
- Openings a year
- 1,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 16,600
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then an apprenticeship
Where people already use AI for this work
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Position materials or components for assembly
- Build structures
- Cut materials
What the work looks like
- Position and secure steel bars, rods, cables, or mesh in concrete forms, using fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, or hand tools.
- Determine quantities, sizes, shapes, and locations of reinforcing rods from blueprints, sketches, or oral instructions.
- Space and fasten together rods in forms according to blueprints, using wire and pliers.
- Use forklifts or cranes to move construction material, such as rebar.
- Cut rods to required lengths, using metal shears, hacksaws, bar cutters, or acetylene torches.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as the use of prefabrication and precast concrete products shifts reinforcement to offsite facilities.
- Fewer of these jobs, as new equipment is used to place and tie rebar, replacing workers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Floor sanders and finishersHuman edge, steady, Index 73, +1.4%
- Structural iron and steel workersHuman edge, steady, Index 75, +3.1%
- Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleanersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.8%
- Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%
Also known as: Iron Installer, Iron Worker, Ironworker, Rodbuster, Field Ironworker, Ironworker Journeyman, Ironworker Laborer, Reinforced Ironworker.
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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.