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Structural Iron and Steel Workers vs Construction Laborers

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Structural Iron and Steel Workers and Construction Laborers 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.”

Structural Iron and Steel Workers Construction Laborers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$62,700
$46,730
Employment · BLS OEWS
64,720
1,057,660
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
5th pct
5th pct

At a glance

Dimension Structural Iron and Steel Workers Construction Laborers
Median pay $62,700 $46,730
Employment 64,720 1,057,660
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+4.4%) Growing fast (+7.3%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 5,500 129,400
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 · 5th pct Low · 5th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 5th pct · 11% of tasks 2nd pct · 9% 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: Building and Construction, Multilimb Coordination, Static Strength, Visualization, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Near Vision, Control Precision, Trunk Strength, Problem Sensitivity, Selective Attention, Extent Flexibility, Depth Perception, Mechanical, Coordination, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Finger Dexterity, Dynamic Strength, Far Vision, Rate Control, Reaction Time, Stamina, Information Ordering, Public Safety and Security, Oral Comprehension, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Oral Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Response Orientation, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Speaking.

Specific to Structural Iron and Steel Workers

  • Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Mathematics
  • Auditory Attention
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Gross Body Coordination
  • Administration and Management

Specific to Construction Laborers

  • Category Flexibility
  • Written Comprehension
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Complex Problem Solving

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: Electronic mail software , Project management software .

Specific to Structural Iron and Steel Workers

Specific to Construction Laborers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Structural Iron and Steel Workers or Construction Laborers — 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. "Structural Iron and Steel Workers vs Construction Laborers." 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/structural-iron-and-steel-workers-vs-construction-laborers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Structural Iron and Steel Workers vs Construction Laborers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/structural-iron-and-steel-workers-vs-construction-laborers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-structural-iron-and-steel-workers-vs-construction-laborers,
  title  = {Structural Iron and Steel Workers vs Construction Laborers},
  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/structural-iron-and-steel-workers-vs-construction-laborers}
}

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