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Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors and Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators 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 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,350
$58,710
Employment · BLS OEWS
139,180
469,270
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
6th pct
30th pct

At a glance

Dimension Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay $48,350 $58,710
Employment 139,180 469,270
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.9%) About average (+3.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 16,900 41,900
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 · 30th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 16th pct · 15% of tasks 11th pct · 13% 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, Mechanical, Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Oral Comprehension, Near Vision, Far Vision, Active Listening, Speaking, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Information Ordering, Control Precision, Visual Color Discrimination, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, English Language, Critical Thinking, Equipment Maintenance, Selective Attention, Finger Dexterity, Depth Perception, Hearing Sensitivity, Auditory Attention, Reading Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Time Sharing, Response Orientation, Rate Control.

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

  • Trunk Strength
  • Extent Flexibility
  • Category Flexibility
  • Stamina
  • Glare Sensitivity
  • Coordination
  • Dynamic Strength

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

  • Public Safety and Security
  • Monitoring
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Visualization
  • Troubleshooting
  • Time Management
  • Inductive 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: Facilities management software , Time accounting software .

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors or Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — 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 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators." 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-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators,
  title  = {Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators},
  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-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators}
}

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