Career Explorer Installation and repair
Human edge, steady
Telecommunications line installers and repairers
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 43% 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 -3.4% 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)
- $74,330
- Job growth to 2035
- -3.4%
- Openings a year
- 8,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 103,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Connect components or supply lines to equipment or tools
- Test performance of equipment or systems
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Install commercial or production equipment
- Perform general construction or extraction activities
- Climb equipment or structures
What the work looks like
- Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.
- Inspect or test lines or cables, recording and analyzing test results, to assess transmission characteristics and locate faults or malfunctions.
- Clean or maintain tools or test equipment.
- Set up service for customers, installing, connecting, testing, or adjusting equipment, such as digital subscriber line modems.
- Travel to customers' premises to install, maintain, or repair audio and visual electronic reception equipment or accessories.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%
- Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 59, -3.6%
- GlaziersHuman edge, steady, Index 69, +1.9%
- Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workersHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +5.3%
Also known as: Cable Splicer, Combination Technician (Combination Tech), I and R Technician (Installation and Repair Technician), Installer, Cable Tech (Cable Technician), Cable TV Tech (Cable Television Technician), Fiber Optic Splicer, Field Service Technician.
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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.