Fallers

Highest risk Lowest scored
Imminent Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

Forest and Conservation Workers
46% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Higher growth More jobs
40.9 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Applies forest terrain knowledge, tools, brush clearing, planting, trail work, fire prevention, safety, and outdoor crew routines.

First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers
25% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
62 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Fits experienced fallers coordinating crews, safety briefings, production targets, equipment, work zones, and timber quality.

Tree Trimmers and Pruners
51% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Higher growth More jobs
36.2 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Transfers chainsaw use, tree structure judgment, controlled cuts, ropes, public safety, cleanup, and worksite hazard control.

Occupational Health and Safety Technicians
21% automation risk | Low Risk
Higher growth More jobs
65.8 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses high-hazard worksite knowledge, PPE, incident reporting, inspections, training support, equipment checks, and corrective actions.

Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
58% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Higher growth More jobs
28.6 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Applies outdoor equipment use, saw safety, brush removal, grounds cleanup, hazard awareness, client sites, and physical field work.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
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.
JOB SCORE
1.6/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

87% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): This occupation appears highly exposed to end-to-end replacement by AI, software, robotics, or other computer-controlled systems. Roles in this range often involve predictable, repeatable, or rules-based work with limited need for human judgement, trust, creativity, or adaptation to messy real-world conditions. This does not mean every job will disappear immediately, but it is a strong signal to consider safer alternatives or start building more resilient skills.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Critical thinking

Quite important
Why this matters
Weigh options using logic and evidence, spot weaknesses in arguments, and choose the best approach when there isn’t a single clear answer.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 24 votes

56% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. However, the automation risk level we have generated suggests a much higher chance of automation: 87% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Fallers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Fallers was $53,900 ($26 per hour).

The median annual wage for Fallers was 8.9% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Fallers' job openings is expected to decline 7.3% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 4,110 people employed as 'Fallers' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 37 thousand people are employed as 'Fallers'.

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What people are saying (1)

Ian (Low)
29 Jul 2025 04:58
Tree falling work is dangerous and technical. While theoretically a robot could be made with enough intelligence to understand the various aspects of tree falling (it's never as simple as just cutting trees, there are always hazards and spatial factors to consider), it seems unlikely that logging outfits would spend the money on such a complex machine that could easily be crushed and destroyed by a falling tree.
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Job description

Use axes or chainsaws to fell trees using knowledge of tree characteristics and cutting techniques to control direction of fall and minimize tree damage.

O*NET-SOC code: 45-4021.00