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Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Helpers--Extraction Workers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining and Helpers--Extraction Workers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Helpers--Extraction Workers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$52,550
$48,400
Employment · BLS OEWS
34,210
6,720
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
30th pct
4th pct

At a glance

Dimension Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Helpers--Extraction Workers
Median pay $52,550 $48,400
Employment 34,210 6,720
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-0.4%) Declining (-1.7%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 3,100 700
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 30th pct Low · 4th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk — 4th pct · 11% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman — No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Operation and Control, Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Depth Perception, Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Response Orientation, Rate Control, Far Vision, Operations Monitoring, Near Vision, Finger Dexterity, Auditory Attention, Hearing Sensitivity, Mechanical, Monitoring, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Equipment Selection, Equipment Maintenance, Troubleshooting, Repairing, Judgment and Decision Making.

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  • Spatial Orientation
  • Peripheral Vision
  • Building and Construction
  • Oral Expression
  • Speech Recognition
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Speaking
  • Active Learning

Specific to Helpers--Extraction Workers

  • Static Strength
  • English Language
  • Trunk Strength
  • Transportation
  • Information Ordering
  • Selective Attention
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Deductive Reasoning

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Word processing software .

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Specific to Helpers--Extraction Workers

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining or Helpers--Extraction Workers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

    More comparisons

    Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

    Sources for this page

    Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

    Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

    Cite this page
    Plain

    Singulariki. "Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Helpers--Extraction Workers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-helpers-extraction-workers

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Helpers--Extraction Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-helpers-extraction-workers

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-helpers-extraction-workers,
  title  = {Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Helpers--Extraction Workers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-helpers-extraction-workers}
}

    Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.