Skip to content
Singulariki

Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors and Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand 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.”

Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,350
$38,940
Employment · BLS OEWS
139,180
2,982,530
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
6th pct
12th pct

At a glance

Dimension Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
Median pay $48,350 $38,940
Employment 139,180 2,982,530
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.9%) About average (+1.5%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 16,900 384,300
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 · 6th pct Low · 12th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 16th pct · 15% of tasks 6th pct · 12% 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: Multilimb Coordination, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Static Strength, Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time, Trunk Strength, Oral Comprehension, Extent Flexibility, Near Vision, Far Vision, Active Listening, Speaking, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Information Ordering, Control Precision, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, English Language, Category Flexibility, Selective Attention, Finger Dexterity, Stamina, Depth Perception, Reading Comprehension, Coordination, Deductive Reasoning, Rate Control, Dynamic Strength.

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

  • Mechanical
  • Operations Monitoring
  • Operation and Control
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Critical Thinking
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Glare Sensitivity
  • Hearing Sensitivity

Specific to Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand

  • Administration and Management
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Transportation
  • Production and Processing
  • Mathematics
  • Written Comprehension
  • Monitoring

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: Data base user interface and query software , Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software .

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Specific to Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors or Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand — 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. "Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand." 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/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand,
  title  = {Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand},
  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/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand}
}

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