Compare Occupations

	Dredge Operators	First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	Crane and Tower Operators	Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
SUMMARY	68% High Risk	24% Low Risk	38% Low Risk	62% High Risk	60% Moderate Risk
JOB SCORE	2.5/10	6.8/10	4.0/10	4.5/10	4.6/10
POLLING	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	37% (Low Risk, Based on 77 votes)	49% (Moderate Risk, Based on 74 votes)	53% (Moderate Risk, Based on 72 votes)
GROWTH by year 2034	1.2%	5.3%	-6.5%	3.0%	3.6%
WAGES	$48,430 or $23.28 per hour	$78,690 or $37.83 per hour	$58,260 or $28.01 per hour	$66,370 or $31.91 per hour	$58,710 or $28.22 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	1,030	806,080	126,750	42,000	469,270
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	Operate dredge to remove sand, gravel, or other materials in order to excavate and maintain navigable channels in waterways.	Directly supervise and coordinate activities of construction or extraction workers.	Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.	Operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.	Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.

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.