Career Explorer Construction and trades
Human edge, steady
Structural iron and steel workers
Raise, place, and unite iron or steel girders, columns, and other structural members to form completed structures or structural frameworks. May erect metal storage tanks and assemble prefabricated metal buildings.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 75% 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 +3.1% 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)
- $62,780
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.1%
- Openings a year
- 5,900
- People doing it (2025)
- 68,300
- 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
- Build structures
- Position materials or components for assembly
- Operate lifting or moving equipment
What the work looks like
- Read specifications or blueprints to determine the locations, quantities, or sizes of materials required.
- Verify vertical and horizontal alignment of structural steel members, using plumb bobs, laser equipment, transits, or levels.
- Erect metal or precast concrete components for structures, such as buildings, bridges, dams, towers, storage tanks, fences, or highway guard rails.
- Bolt aligned structural steel members in position for permanent riveting, bolting, or welding into place.
- Assemble or inspect hoisting equipment or rigging, such as cables, pulleys, or hooks, to move heavy equipment or materials.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masonsHuman edge, steady, Index 77, +1.5%
- Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfittersHuman edge, steady, Index 85, +2.4%
- Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%
- Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleanersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.8%
Also known as: Iron Worker, Ironworker, Steel Fabricator, Steel Worker, Field Iron Worker, Steel Erector, Structural Erector, Structural Steel Erector.
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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.