Compare Occupations

	Pipelayers	First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	Construction and Building Inspectors	Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
SUMMARY	57% Moderate Risk	24% Low Risk	26% Low Risk	38% Low Risk	25% Low Risk	30% Low Risk
JOB SCORE	3.7/10	6.8/10	7.5/10	4.0/10	5.5/10	5.2/10
POLLING	42% (Moderate Risk, Based on 19 votes)	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	21% (Low Risk, Based on 610 votes)	37% (Low Risk, Based on 77 votes)	38% (Low Risk, Based on 67 votes)	39% (Low Risk, Based on 84 votes)
GROWTH by year 2034	-4.1%	5.3%	4.5%	-6.5%	-0.8%	2.1%
WAGES	$48,710 or $23.42 per hour	$78,690 or $37.83 per hour	$62,970 or $30.27 per hour	$58,260 or $28.01 per hour	$72,120 or $34.67 per hour	$64,200 or $30.86 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	33,580	806,080	455,940	126,750	137,210	62,130
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	Lay pipe for storm or sanitation sewers, drains, and water mains. Perform any combination of the following tasks: grade trenches or culverts, position pipe, or seal joints.	Directly supervise and coordinate activities of construction or extraction workers.	Assemble, install, alter, and repair pipelines or pipe systems that carry water, steam, air, or other liquids or gases. May install heating and cooling equipment and mechanical control systems. Includes sprinkler fitters.	Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.	Inspect structures using engineering skills to determine structural soundness and compliance with specifications, building codes, and other regulations. Inspections may be general in nature or may be limited to a specific area, such as electrical systems or plumbing.	Apply theory and principles of civil engineering in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of structures and facilities under the direction of engineering staff or physical scientists.

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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.