Compare Occupations

	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	Maintenance Workers, Machinery	Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators	Automotive Body and Related Repairers	Painters, Construction and Maintenance	Furniture Finishers
SUMMARY	78% High Risk	53% Moderate Risk	51% Moderate Risk	49% Moderate Risk	49% Moderate Risk	57% Moderate Risk
JOB SCORE	3.4/10	4.0/10	3.8/10	4.7/10	5.0/10	2.7/10
POLLING	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	38% (Low Risk, Based on 94 votes)	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	39% (Low Risk, Based on 101 votes)	39% (Low Risk, Based on 93 votes)	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet
GROWTH by year 2034	0.7%	-2.8%	4.2%	1.6%	3.8%	-3.3%
WAGES	$47,590 or $22.88 per hour	$60,500 or $29.08 per hour	$45,760 or $22.00 per hour	$51,680 or $24.84 per hour	$48,660 or $23.39 per hour	$42,530 or $20.45 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	159,500	56,540	18,520	155,220	224,180	14,230
SNOWFLAKE [?] The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
DESCRIPTION	Set up, operate, or tend spraying or rolling machines to coat or paint any of a wide variety of products, including glassware, cloth, ceramics, metal, plastic, paper, or wood, with lacquer, silver, copper, rubber, varnish, glaze, enamel, oil, or rust-proofing materials. Includes painters of transportation vehicles such as painters in auto body repair facilities.	Lubricate machinery, change parts, or perform other routine machinery maintenance.	Laminate layers of fiberglass on molds to form boat decks and hulls, bodies for golf carts, automobiles, or other products.	Repair and refinish automotive vehicle bodies and straighten vehicle frames.	Paint walls, equipment, buildings, bridges, and other structural surfaces, using brushes, rollers, and spray guns. May remove old paint to prepare surface prior to painting. May mix colors or oils to obtain desired color or consistency.	Shape, finish, and refinish damaged, worn, or used furniture or new high-grade furniture to specified color or finish.

Compare Occupations Side by Side

Curious how automation and AI could affect your career? Our comparison tool lets you view two or more jobs side by side, helping you quickly spot differences in risk level, pay, growth, and popularity. All of this is based on a mix of academic research, user polling, and official labour data.

Automation Risk

Each occupation shows a probability of automation. A higher score means machines and algorithms are more likely to take over the role in the future.

Job Score

A quick summary of how a job performs overall — factoring in wages, growth, volume, and automation risk. It’s a handy way to see the bigger picture at a glance.

Polling Data

Thousands of visitors cast their votes on how “automatable” each job feels. These community insights are shown alongside the calculated probabilities.

Growth & Wages

See how fast each occupation is projected to grow and what people earn on average. High wages don’t always mean high security — automation risk still matters.

Volume of Workers

Explore how many people currently work in each occupation and in which year the data was recorded. Popularity can affect how disruptive automation will be for the wider economy.

The Snowflake Diagram

Each snowflake visualises the balance between automation risk, wages, growth, and job volume. Bigger and greener areas mean stronger performance in that dimension.

Use this comparison page to research careers, guide students, or simply explore the future of work. All data is regularly updated to keep the results relevant.