Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Stationary engineers and boiler operators
Operate or maintain stationary engines, boilers, or other mechanical equipment to provide utilities for buildings or industrial processes. Operate equipment such as steam engines, generators, motors, turbines, and steam boilers.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 77% 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 +3.1% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $78,620
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.1%
- Openings a year
- 3,200
- People doing it (2025)
- 31,200
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Diagnose system or equipment problems
- Plan work activities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Monitor equipment operation
- Operate energy production or distribution equipment
- Maintain operational records
What the work looks like
- Operate or tend stationary engines, boilers, and auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, compressors, or air-conditioning equipment, to supply and maintain steam or heat for buildings, marine vessels, or pneumatic tools.
- Activate valves to maintain required amounts of water in boilers, to adjust supplies of combustion air, and to control the flow of fuel into burners.
- Monitor boiler water, chemical, and fuel levels, and make adjustments to maintain required levels.
- Analyze problems and take appropriate action to ensure continuous and reliable operation of equipment and systems.
- Observe and interpret readings on gauges, meters, and charts registering various aspects of boiler operation to ensure that boilers are operating properly.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Plant and system operators, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 82, +2.3%
- Motorboat operatorsHuman edge, growing, Index 96, +4.9%
- First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workersHuman edge, growing, Index 83, +3.8%
- Rotary drill operators, oil and gasHuman edge, steady, Index 81, +0.8%
Also known as: Boiler Operator, Operating Engineer, Stationary Engineer, Utilities Operator, Auxiliary Operator, Boiler Technician (Boiler Tech), Operator, Plant Utilities Engineer.
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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.