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Ship Engineers 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 Ship Engineers 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.”

Ship Engineers Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$101,320
$58,710
Employment · BLS OEWS
8,580
469,270
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
4th pct
30th pct

At a glance

Dimension Ship Engineers Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay $101,320 $58,710
Employment 8,580 469,270
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.6%) About average (+3.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 1,100 41,900
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 4th pct Low · 30th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 42nd pct · 23% 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: Mechanical, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Equipment Maintenance, Troubleshooting, Active Listening, Monitoring, Control Precision, Near Vision, English Language, Speaking, Speech Clarity, Public Safety and Security, Speech Recognition, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Reading Comprehension, Visualization, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity.

Specific to Ship Engineers

  • Repairing
  • Written Comprehension
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Transportation
  • Active Learning
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Systems Analysis

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

  • Depth Perception
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Far Vision
  • Rate Control
  • Reaction Time
  • Response Orientation
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Time Management

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: Operating system software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Facilities management software .

Specific to Ship Engineers

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Ship Engineers 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. "Ship Engineers 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/ship-engineers-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Ship Engineers vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/ship-engineers-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-ship-engineers-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators,
  title  = {Ship Engineers 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/ship-engineers-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.