As of June 2026, Commercial Divers has an AI-exposure score of 39/100 (Low exposure) on the AI-Safe Careers index, blending O*NET tasks, the Anthropic Economic Index, the Penn/OpenAI study, and BLS data. This is an estimate of task exposure, not a prediction of job loss.
Commercial Divers
More exposed than 9% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$72,990. About 400 projected openings a year (BLS 2024–34 — growth plus replacement).
Pay & demand figures are US medians (BLS, in USD) — your local figures will differ. Your exposure score applies broadly.
How you compare to similar Installation & Repair roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
No automatable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as durable (65%).
- Perform activities related to underwater search and rescue, salvage, recovery, or cleanup operations.
- Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.
- Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.
- Cut and weld steel, using underwater welding equipment, jigs, and supports.
- Supervise or train other divers, including hobby divers.
- Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.
- Take appropriate safety precautions, such as monitoring dive lengths and depths and registering with authorities before diving expeditions begin.
- Operate underwater video, sonar, recording, or related equipment to investigate underwater structures or marine life.
- Take test samples or photographs to assess the condition of vessels or structures.
- Carry out non-destructive testing, such as tests for cracks on the legs of oil rigs at sea.
- Install pilings or footings for piers or bridges.
- Set or guide placement of pilings or sandbags to provide support for structures, such as docks, bridges, cofferdams, or platforms.
- Recover objects by placing rigging around sunken objects, hooking rigging to crane lines, and operating winches, derricks, or cranes to raise objects.
- Salvage wrecked ships or their cargo, using pneumatic power velocity and hydraulic tools and explosive charges, when necessary.
- Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.
- Repair ships, bridge foundations, or other structures below the water line, using caulk, bolts, and hand tools.
- Remove obstructions from strainers or marine railway or launching ways, using pneumatic or power hand tools.
- Inspect and test docks, ships, buoyage systems, plant intakes or outflows, or underwater pipelines, cables, or sewers, using closed circuit television, still photography, and testing equipment.
- Inspect the condition of underwater steel or wood structures.
- Install, inspect, clean, or repair piping or valves.
Safer adjacent roles
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