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Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators and Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing 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.”

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$51,650
$40,440
Employment · BLS OEWS
45,680
63,350
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
1st pct
42nd pct

At a glance

Dimension Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Median pay $51,650 $40,440
Employment 45,680 63,350
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+3.2%) Declining (-1.8%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 4,000 6,400
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 · 1st pct Moderate · 42nd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 11th pct · 13% of tasks 38th pct · 22% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No 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: Control Precision, Operations Monitoring, Problem Sensitivity, Operation and Control, Multilimb Coordination, Mechanical, Monitoring, Rate Control, Reaction Time, Static Strength, Trunk Strength, Far Vision, Critical Thinking, Troubleshooting, Repairing, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Visualization, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Extent Flexibility, Speech Recognition, Active Listening, Speaking, Equipment Maintenance, Judgment and Decision Making, Finger Dexterity, Near Vision, Mathematics, Quality Control Analysis.

Specific to Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

  • Building and Construction
  • Coordination
  • Response Orientation
  • Depth Perception
  • Speech Clarity
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Time Sharing

Specific to Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

  • Perceptual Speed
  • Auditory Attention
  • Category Flexibility
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Dynamic Strength
  • Production and Processing
  • Equipment Selection

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: Computer aided design CAD software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Data base user interface and query software , Time accounting software .

Specific to Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Specific to Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators or Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing — 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. "Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing." 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; 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/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing,
  title  = {Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; 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/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing}
}

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