Compare Occupations

	Sheet Metal Workers	First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers	Construction and Building Inspectors	Industrial Machinery Mechanics
SUMMARY	50% Moderate Risk	24% Low Risk	27% Low Risk	25% Low Risk	41% Moderate Risk
JOB SCORE	4.9/10	6.8/10	7.6/10	5.5/10	6.4/10
POLLING	47% (Moderate Risk, Based on 64 votes)	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	20% (Low Risk, Based on 242 votes)	38% (Low Risk, Based on 67 votes)	36% (Low Risk, Based on 66 votes)
GROWTH by year 2034	2.4%	5.3%	8.1%	-0.8%	16.1%
WAGES	$60,850 or $29.25 per hour	$78,690 or $37.83 per hour	$59,810 or $28.75 per hour	$72,120 or $34.67 per hour	$63,760 or $30.65 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	117,470	806,080	396,870	137,210	421,940
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	Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.	Directly supervise and coordinate activities of construction or extraction workers.	Install or repair heating, central air conditioning, HVAC, or refrigeration systems, including oil burners, hot-air furnaces, and heating stoves.	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.	Repair, install, adjust, or maintain industrial production and processing machinery or refinery and pipeline distribution systems. May also install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to plans.

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.