Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Occupation · SOC 47-2071.00
Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.
Also called: Equipment Operator (EO) · Paver Operator · Roller Operator · Screed Operator · Asphalt Paver Operator · Asphalt Paving Machine Operator · Asphalt Raker · Asphalt Roller Operator · Loader Operator · Maintenance Equipment Operator (MEO) · Asphalt Distributor Operator · Asphalt Distributor Tender
Job family: Construction and Extraction Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-47-2071-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- About average employment outlook (+3.2% by 2034)
- 4,000 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $51,650/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (68th); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (2nd)
2nd-percentile task overlap — yet about 4,000 openings a year (+3.2% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Low | 11th | -1.2 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 3rd | 0.0 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 1st | 0.0 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.0), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.0). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.
Mixed signals. Today's AI/LLM studies show relatively low exposure for this job, but the older (2013) Frey–Osborne work rated it higher for computerization and robotics. Different eras, different technologies — the AI measures above reflect the current state.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.8 · 68th percentile among occupations · High
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | About average · +3.2% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 4,000 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 47,000 → 48,600 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators sits at the 11th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure rose from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
13% mean task exposure (2025)
11th percentile of 427 placed occupations
+1 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Earthmoving and Related Plant Operators · 8342 | 13% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 20 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments. Core · importance 4.2
- Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials. Core · importance 4.0
- Control paving machines to push dump trucks and to maintain a constant flow of asphalt or other material into hoppers or screeds. Core · importance 4.0
- Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material. Core · importance 4.0
- Coordinate truck dumping. Core · importance 3.9
- Drive machines onto truck trailers, and drive trucks to transport machines and material to and from job sites. Core · importance 3.9
- Inspect, clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using mechanics' hand tools, or report malfunctions to supervisors. Core · importance 3.9
- Set up and tear down equipment. Core · importance 3.9
- Operate machines to spread, smooth, level, or steel-reinforce stone, concrete, or asphalt on road beds. Core · importance 3.9
- Light burners or start heating units of machines, and regulate screed temperatures and asphalt flow rates. Core · importance 3.7
- Control traffic. Core · importance 3.6
- Place strips of material, such as cork, asphalt, or steel into joints, or place rolls of expansion-joint material on machines that automatically insert material. Supplemental · importance 3.6
- Shovel blacktop. Core · importance 3.5
- Operate tamping machines or manually roll surfaces to compact earth fills, foundation forms, and finished road materials, according to grade specifications. Core · importance 3.5
- Drive and operate curbing machines to extrude concrete or asphalt curbing. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Operate oil distributors, loaders, chip spreaders, dump trucks, and snow plows. Core · importance 3.5
- Operate machines that clean or cut expansion joints in concrete or asphalt and that rout out cracks in pavement. Supplemental · importance 3.4
- Cut or break up pavement and drive guardrail posts, using machines equipped with interchangeable hammers. Supplemental · importance 3.4
- Install dies, cutters, and extensions to screeds onto machines, using hand tools. Supplemental · importance 3.3
- Set up forms and lay out guidelines for curbs, according to written specifications, using string, spray paint, and concrete or water mixes. Supplemental · importance 3.2
Work activities
- Direct vehicle traffic.
- Operate road-surfacing equipment.
- Inspect equipment or tools to be used in construction or excavation.
- Clean equipment or facilities.
- Maintain construction tools or equipment.
- Spread concrete or other aggregate mixtures.
- Operate equipment or vehicles to clear construction sites or move materials.
- Coordinate construction project activities.
- Assemble temporary equipment or structures.
- Dismantle equipment or temporary structures.
- Compact materials to create level bases.
- Spread sand, dirt or other loose materials onto surfaces.
- Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment.
- Monitor construction operations.
- Direct construction or extraction personnel.
- Build construction forms or molds.
- Mark reference points on construction materials.
- Load materials into construction equipment.
- Operate heavy-duty construction or installation equipment.
- Break up rock, asphalt, or concrete.
- Install equipment attachments or components.
- Cut tile, stone, or other masonry materials.
- Apply material to fill gaps in surfaces.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Abilities
| Control Precision | 3.8 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.6 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 3.4 | |
| Rate Control | 3.3 | |
| Reaction Time | 3.3 | |
| Static Strength | 3.1 | |
| Trunk Strength | 3.1 | |
| Far Vision | 3.1 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.0 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.0 | |
| Visualization | 3.0 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.0 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.0 | |
| Manual Dexterity | 3.0 | |
| Response Orientation | 3.0 | |
| Extent Flexibility | 3.0 | |
| Depth Perception | 3.0 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.0 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.0 | |
| Spatial Orientation | 2.9 | |
| Time Sharing | 2.9 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 2.9 | |
| Near Vision | 2.9 |
Knowledge
| Building and Construction | 3.6 | |
| Mechanical | 3.3 | |
| Mathematics | 2.8 |
Transferable skills
| Operations Monitoring | 3.6 | |
| Operation and Control | 3.4 | |
| Coordination | 3.0 | |
| Troubleshooting | 3.0 | |
| Repairing | 3.0 | |
| Equipment Maintenance | 2.9 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 2.9 | |
| Quality Control Analysis | 2.8 |
Essential skills
| Monitoring | 3.3 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.0 | |
| Active Listening | 2.9 | |
| Speaking | 2.9 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
| Example | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D | Computer aided design CAD software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software | Hot technology |
| Database software | Data base user interface and query software | |
| Email software | Electronic mail software | |
| HCSS HeavyBid | Project management software | |
| Time report software | Time accounting software | |
| Warehouse management system WMS | Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software |
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Typical entry-level education
- High school diploma or equivalent · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
- Preparation level
- SVP (Below 6.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Transportation and Materials Moving . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Less than a High School Diploma | 41.0% | |
| High School Diploma | 38.4% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 20.6% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 7.0 | |
| Conventional | 3.7 | |
| Investigative | 1.7 |
Interest areas
Work styles
| Dependability | 2.3 | |
| Cautiousness | 1.6 | |
| Stress Tolerance | 1.2 | |
| Attention to Detail | 1.2 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $38,030 |
| 25th percentile | $44,740 |
| Median (50th) | $51,650 |
| 75th percentile | $66,060 |
| 90th percentile | $90,110 |
| People employed | 45,680 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Construction · Sector | 35,500 | $51,310 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,850 | $57,570 |
| Poured Concrete Foundation and Structure Contractors · National industry | 1,110 | $50,030 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 800 | $50,680 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 350 | $48,900 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 340 | $43,480 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 140 | $56,630 |
| Power and Communication Line and Related Structures Construction · National industry | 140 | $47,870 |
| Landscaping Services · National industry | 140 | $61,550 |
| Masonry Contractors · National industry | 130 | $56,830 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 100 | $37,440 |
| Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors · National industry | — | $50,060 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Construction · Sector | 14.75× | 35,500 |
| Poured Concrete Foundation and Structure Contractors · National industry | 14.48× | 1,110 |
| Masonry Contractors · National industry | 3.06× | 130 |
| Power and Communication Line and Related Structures Construction · National industry | 2.02× | 140 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 0.82× | 140 |
| Landscaping Services · National industry | 0.52× | 140 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.49× | 1,850 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 0.43× | 340 |
Related occupations
Part of the Construction career cluster.
- Construction Laborers · 47-2061.00 Compare →
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators · 47-2073.00 Compare →
- Segmental Pavers · 47-4091.00 Compare →
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers · 47-2051.00 Compare →
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · 47-5022.00 Compare →
- Pile Driver Operators · 47-2072.00 Compare →
- Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators · 47-4061.00 Compare →
- Pipelayers · 47-2151.00 Compare →
- Hoist and Winch Operators · 53-7041.00 Compare →
- Highway Maintenance Workers · 47-4051.00 Compare →
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing · 51-7042.00 Compare →
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators · 47-5041.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- High school diploma or equivalent · typical entry level
- Job zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Transportation and Materials Moving · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 11th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators show 2nd-percentile AI task overlap — and about 4,000 annual U.S. openings
- Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators rank in the 2nd percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 4,000 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be about average (+3.2%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $51,650, across about 45,680 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators show 2nd-percentile AI task overlap — and about 4,000 annual U.S. openings • Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators rank in the 2nd percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 4,000 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be about average (+3.2%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $51,650, across about 45,680 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2071-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
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.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping 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/roles/role-47-2071-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2071-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-47-2071-00,
title = {Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping 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/roles/role-47-2071-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.