Career Explorer Construction and trades
Human edge, steady
Tapers
Seal joints between plasterboard or other wallboard to prepare wall surface for painting or papering.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 38% 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 -1.6% by 2035, expected to shrink.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $68,270
- Job growth to 2035
- -1.6%
- Openings a year
- 900
- People doing it (2025)
- 15,800
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
- Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Perform general construction or extraction activities
- Apply protective solutions or coatings
- Apply materials to fill gaps or imperfections
What the work looks like
- Press paper tape over joints to embed tape into sealing compound and to seal joints.
- Spread and smooth cementing material over tape, using trowels or floating machines to blend joints with wall surfaces.
- Spread sealing compound between boards or panels or over cracks, holes, nail heads, or screw heads, using trowels, broadknives, or spatulas.
- Work on high ceilings, using scaffolding or other tools, such as stilts.
- Seal joints between plasterboard or other wallboard to prepare wall surfaces for painting or papering.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as technology speeds up the taping and finishing process.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Laundry and dry-cleaning workersHuman edge, growing, Index 83, +4.3%
- DishwashersHuman edge, steady, Index 64, -1.0%
- Graders and sorters, agricultural productsHuman edge, steady, Index 48, -3.4%
- Rock splitters, quarryHuman edge, growing, Index 92, +5.8%
Also known as: Drywall Finisher, Drywall Taper, Finisher, Taper Finisher, Drywall Mechanic, Patch Guy, Patcher, Sheetrock Finisher.
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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.