As of June 2026, Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters has an AI-exposure score of 44/100 (Moderate 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.
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters
More exposed than 19% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$51,330. About 4,100 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 Production roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
No automatable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (95%).
- Direct welders to build up low spots or short pieces with weld.
- Remove high spots and cut bevels, using hand files, portable grinders, and cutting torches.
- Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
- Move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes.
- Lift or move materials and finished products, using large cranes.
- Set up face blocks, jigs, and fixtures.
- Set up and operate fabricating machines, such as brakes, rolls, shears, flame cutters, grinders, and drill presses, to bend, cut, form, punch, drill, or otherwise form and assemble metal components.
- Verify conformance of workpieces to specifications, using squares, rulers, and measuring tapes.
- Straighten warped or bent parts, using sledges, hand torches, straightening presses, or bulldozers.
- Mark reference points onto floors or face blocks and transpose them to workpieces, using measuring devices, squares, chalk, and soapstone.
- Locate and mark workpiece bending and cutting lines, allowing for stock thickness, machine and welding shrinkage, and other component specifications.
- Position or tighten braces, jacks, clamps, ropes, or bolt straps, or bolt parts in position for welding or riveting.
- Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
- Smooth workpiece edges and fix taps, tubes, and valves.
- Tack-weld fitted parts together.
- Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
- Hammer, chip, and grind workpieces to cut, bend, and straighten metal.
- Align and fit parts according to specifications, using jacks, turnbuckles, wedges, drift pins, pry bars, and hammers.
- Heat-treat parts, using acetylene torches.
- Design and construct templates and fixtures, using hand tools.
Safer adjacent roles
Your AI-Safe Career Report
Every task scored with what to do about it · 5–10 safer roles with salary, demand & reachability · skill-gap map · a 30/60/90-day roadmap · plus a résumé & LinkedIn rewrite · PDF.
Grounded in O*NET + the Anthropic Economic Index + BLS — personalized to your role.
Workers with AI skills earn a roughly 62% wage premium — adapting pays. — PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer, 2026
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