Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Structural metal fabricators and fitters
Fabricate, position, align, and fit parts of structural metal products.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 54% 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 -6.2% 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)
- $51,330
- Job growth to 2035
- -6.2%
- Openings a year
- 4,800
- People doing it (2025)
- 52,300
- 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
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
- Design materials or devices
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Position materials or components for assembly
- Operate cutting or grinding equipment
- Join parts using soldering, welding, or brazing techniques
What the work looks like
- Verify conformance of workpieces to specifications, using squares, rulers, and measuring tapes.
- Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
- Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
- Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
- Tack-weld fitted parts together.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as collaborative robotics increase efficiency, allowing more output to be produced with the same amount of labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Fiberglass laminators and fabricatorsHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +4.6%
- Food processing workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +5.5%
- Production workers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 79, +0.8%
- Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishersHuman edge, growing, Index 73, +5.0%
Also known as: Fabricator, Fitter, Layout Man, Ship Fitter, Metal Fabricator, Mill Beam Fitter, Small Parts Fabricator, Steel Fabricator.
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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.