Compare Occupations

	Wellhead Pumpers	Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	Power Plant Operators	Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door	Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators	Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas
SUMMARY	66% High Risk	21% Low Risk	51% Moderate Risk	41% Moderate Risk	43% Moderate Risk	44% Moderate Risk
JOB SCORE	3.3/10	6.4/10	3.7/10	4.9/10	4.6/10	4.2/10
POLLING	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	34% (Low Risk, Based on 28 votes)	54% (Moderate Risk, Based on 55 votes)	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	56% (Moderate Risk, Based on 50 votes)	43% (Moderate Risk, Based on 15 votes)
GROWTH by year 2034	-4.7%	8.5%	-11.2%	1.3%	2.2%	0.4%
WAGES	$70,010 or $33.66 per hour	$58,440 or $28.09 per hour	$99,670 or $47.91 per hour	$74,690 or $35.91 per hour	$75,190 or $36.15 per hour	$57,980 or $27.87 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	17,350	31,450	30,720	46,920	30,780	44,120
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 power pumps and auxiliary equipment to produce flow of oil or gas from wells in oil field.	Collect data on work environments for analysis by occupational health and safety specialists. Implement and conduct evaluation of programs designed to limit chemical, physical, biological, and ergonomic risks to workers.	Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.	Install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.	Operate or maintain stationary engines, boilers, or other mechanical equipment to provide utilities for buildings or industrial processes. Operate equipment such as steam engines, generators, motors, turbines, and steam boilers.	Operate equipment to increase oil flow from producing wells or to remove stuck pipe, casing, tools, or other obstructions from drilling wells. Includes fishing-tool technicians.

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.