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Equipment Selection

Skill in demand · Lightcast

Equipment Selection is a specialized skill in the Lightcast Open Skills taxonomy — the vocabulary employers use to describe what work requires. It maps to 154 occupations that together employ about 14,847,340 workers, with a median wage of $50,430. Its reach across the occupation map is high. The occupations that use it sit, on average, at the 14th percentile of AI task-exposure ( low) — a measure of how much the work overlaps with what AI can do, not of the skill's value. See where every skill sits.

This page is built from a crosswalk that maps each occupation's O*NET knowledge, skill, and ability requirements to the named Lightcast skill — it reflects which jobs require the skill, not a direct count of job postings. Employment and pay are BLS OEWS national figures for the occupations, not for the skill itself.

Occupations that need this skill

Occupations whose O*NET requirements map to Equipment Selection, ranked by employment. Wage and employment are BLS OEWS (national, cross-industry, May 2024).

Occupation Workers Median pay
Recycling and Reclamation Workers 2,982,530 $38,940
Construction Laborers 1,057,660 $46,730
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers 943,430 $38,090
Electricians 742,580 $62,350
Carpenters 697,740 $59,310
Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics 688,840 $49,670
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators 469,270 $58,710
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters 455,940 $62,970
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers 424,040 $51,000
Industrial Machinery Mechanics 421,940 $63,760
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers 396,870 $59,810
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment 373,960 $35,270
Machinists 298,790 $56,150
Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists 287,230 $60,640
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers 205,230 $54,660
Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines 180,270 $63,980
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 159,500 $47,590
Automotive Body and Related Repairers 155,220 $51,680
Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers 153,890 $62,630
Robotics Engineers 150,750 $117,750
Printing Press Operators 145,110 $45,160
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors 139,180 $48,350
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians 136,390 $78,680
Sheet Metal Workers 117,470 $60,850
Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers 97,540 $38,860
Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers 82,900 $58,140
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters 79,540 $46,020
Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers 73,010 $46,860
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 70,110 $45,190
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 65,700 $46,980
Structural Iron and Steel Workers 64,720 $62,700
Helpers--Electricians 64,440 $39,890
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing 63,350 $40,440
Medical Equipment Repairers 60,830 $62,630
Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment 59,990 $71,300
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 57,310 $45,130
Glaziers 57,000 $55,440
Maintenance Workers, Machinery 56,540 $60,500
Tool and Die Makers 55,130 $63,180
Brickmasons and Blockmasons 53,520 $60,800
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters 53,380 $49,900
Tree Trimmers and Pruners 47,870 $50,430
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 47,540 $45,700
Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door 46,920 $74,690
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators 45,680 $51,650
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas 45,330 $47,510
Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters 43,640 $39,270
Millwrights 40,660 $65,170
Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall 38,610 $48,680
Engine and Other Machine Assemblers 38,420 $52,540
Automotive Engineering Technicians 37,450 $68,730
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians 36,880 $52,080
Print Binding and Finishing Workers 36,470 $39,820
Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals 35,420 $36,150
Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic 34,750 $45,690
Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing 34,750 $45,690
Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics 34,240 $46,560
Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining 34,210 $52,550
Pipelayers 33,580 $48,710
Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers 32,890 $61,680
Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 40 occupations in occupations that need Equipment Selection. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers Roustabouts, Oil and Gas Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers Structural Iron and Steel Workers Tree Trimmers and Pruners Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers Helpers--Electricians Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment Millwrights Brickmasons and Blockmasons Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Occupations that need Equipment Selection, by AI task-overlap and median pay

How this skill maps to occupations

The O*NET attribute types that bridge to this Lightcast skill, and how many of the mapped occupations each accounts for.

  • O*NET transferable skill 154

Datasets behind 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. "Equipment Selection." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/demand-skills/equipment-selection

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Equipment Selection. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/demand-skills/equipment-selection

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-equipment-selection,
  title  = {Equipment Selection},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/demand-skills/equipment-selection}
}

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