← All 785 jobsFile 47-2221
Structural Iron and Steel Workers
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 3.1% more of these jobs by 2035, slower than the 3.5% average.
- Rank
- #575 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +3.1% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $62,780 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 68,300 in the US, with about 5,900 openings a year
The work, 15 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
Still yours: Build structures32%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Position materials or components for assembly12%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Operate lifting or moving equipment12%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI does this: Read documents or materials to inform work processes7%
AI performed this in about 1 in 214 Copilot conversations and completed it 87% of the time.
Still yours: Signal others to coordinate work activities6%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Inspect completed work or finished products6%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Cut materials5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Join parts using soldering, welding, or brazing techniques5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Fabricate devices or components4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Disassemble equipment2%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Assemble equipment or components1%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Install commercial or production equipment1%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Perform general construction or extraction activities1%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Position tools or equipment1%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 103 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
About 5,900 openings a year, from growth and from people who retire or move on.
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
Jobs that share the most work with this one, where AI does less of it.
- Shares 37% of the workRoofers0% AI does, against 7% here+5.3% by 2035 · $55,440 · No formal credential
- Shares 29% of the workMillwrights0% AI does, against 7% here+0.9% by 2035 · $65,700 · High school diploma
- Shares 25% of the workPaperhangers0% AI does, against 7% here+4.3% by 2035 · $52,140 · No formal credential
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Work front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.03, higher than 6% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 47-2221 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
Check another job.
Know someone in this job? Send them the file.