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 →Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers
Occupation · SOC 47-2171.00
Position and secure steel bars or mesh in concrete forms in order to reinforce concrete. Use a variety of fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, and hand tools. Includes rod busters.
Also called: Iron Installer · Iron Worker · Ironworker · Rodbuster · Field Ironworker · Reinforced Ironworker · Rodman · Steel Tier · Concrete Buster · Concrete Rod Buster · Concrete Worker · Ironworker Welder
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-47-2171-00/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 (+4.6% by 2034)
- 1,500 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $59,280/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (78th); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (7th)
7th-percentile task overlap — yet about 1,500 openings a year (+4.6% 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 | 0th | -2.0 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 19th | 0.1 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 13th | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.1), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.1). 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 0.9 · 78th 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 · +4.6% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 1,500 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 19,400 → 20,300 |
“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.
Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers sits at the 5th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure eased from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
11% mean task exposure (2025)
5th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−1 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Structural Metal Preparers and Erectors · 7214 | 11% | 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 7 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Determine quantities, sizes, shapes, and locations of reinforcing rods from blueprints, sketches, or oral instructions. Core · importance 4.4
- Space and fasten together rods in forms according to blueprints, using wire and pliers. Core · importance 4.3
- Position and secure steel bars, rods, cables, or mesh in concrete forms, using fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, or hand tools. Core · importance 4.3
- Cut rods to required lengths, using metal shears, hacksaws, bar cutters, or acetylene torches. Core · importance 4.0
- Place blocks under rebar to hold the bars off the deck when reinforcing floors. Core · importance 4.0
- Cut and fit wire mesh or fabric, using hooked rods, and position fabric or mesh in concrete to reinforce concrete. Core · importance 3.9
- Bend steel rods with hand tools or rod-bending machines and weld them with arc-welding equipment. Core · importance 3.4
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Unload rebar from trucks.
- Use forklifts or cranes to move construction material, such as rebar.
Work activities
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| Building and Construction | 4.6 | |
| Mathematics | 3.4 | |
| Administration and Management | 3.4 | |
| Design | 3.3 | |
| English Language | 3.3 | |
| Engineering and Technology | 3.0 |
Abilities
| Static Strength | 3.9 | |
| Trunk Strength | 3.9 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 3.8 | |
| Manual Dexterity | 3.6 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.5 | |
| Extent Flexibility | 3.5 | |
| Stamina | 3.4 | |
| Near Vision | 3.4 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 3.3 | |
| Control Precision | 3.3 | |
| Reaction Time | 3.3 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.1 | |
| Dynamic Strength | 3.1 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.0 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.0 | |
| Visualization | 3.0 | |
| Gross Body Coordination | 3.0 | |
| Gross Body Equilibrium | 3.0 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 2.9 | |
| Oral Expression | 2.9 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 2.9 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 2.9 | |
| Far Vision | 2.9 | |
| Depth Perception | 2.9 | |
| Auditory Attention | 2.9 |
Transferable skills
| Coordination | 3.1 | |
| Operation and Control | 2.9 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 2.9 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 2.8 | |
| Operations Monitoring | 2.8 | |
| Time Management | 2.8 |
Essential skills
| Critical Thinking | 3.0 | |
| Monitoring | 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Application Software SHEAR | Project management software | |
| Applied Systems Associates aSa Rebar | Project management software | |
| OTP ArmaCAD | Computer aided design CAD software | |
| RebarWin | Data base user interface and query 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.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Less than a High School Diploma | 36.6% | |
| High School Diploma | 33.9% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 29.6% |
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 | 3.5 | |
| Investigative | 2.2 | |
| Enterprising | 1.3 | |
| Social | 1.2 |
Interest areas
| Physical/Manual Labor | 6.5 | |
| Engineering | 2.9 | |
| Construction/Woodwork | 2.0 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 1.8 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 1.7 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 1.6 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 2.3 | |
| Attention to Detail | 2.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 1.8 | |
| Stress Tolerance | 1.3 | |
| Perseverance | 1.3 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $39,470 |
| 25th percentile | $47,300 |
| Median (50th) | $59,280 |
| 75th percentile | $74,190 |
| 90th percentile | $95,530 |
| People employed | 14,140 |
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 | 12,160 | $59,190 |
| Poured Concrete Foundation and Structure Contractors · National industry | 1,290 | $50,560 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,100 | $78,410 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 340 | $104,970 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 220 | $49,990 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 130 | $56,840 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 120 | $40,410 |
| Other Building Equipment Contractors · National industry | 60 | $65,550 |
| Power and Communication Line and Related Structures Construction · National industry | 50 | $61,980 |
| Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors · National industry | 50 | $78,880 |
| Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors · National industry | 40 | $89,500 |
| Masonry Contractors · National industry | — | $64,700 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Poured Concrete Foundation and Structure Contractors · National industry | 54.37× | 1,290 |
| Construction · Sector | 16.33× | 12,160 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.94× | 1,100 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 0.61× | 340 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 0.53× | 130 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 0.27× | 220 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 0.12× | 120 |
Related occupations
Part of the Construction career cluster.
- Structural Iron and Steel Workers · 47-2221.00 Compare →
- Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters · 51-2041.00 Compare →
- Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers · 47-2081.00 Compare →
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers · 47-2051.00 Compare →
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons · 47-2021.00 Compare →
- Sheet Metal Workers · 47-2211.00 Compare →
- Carpenters · 47-2031.00 Compare →
- Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic · 51-4192.00 Compare →
- Construction Laborers · 47-2061.00 Compare →
- Fence Erectors · 47-4031.00 Compare →
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers · 51-2011.00 Compare →
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters · 47-3011.00 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 Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers — 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
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 5th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers show 7th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,500 annual U.S. openings
- Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers rank in the 7th 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 1,500 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 (+4.6%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $59,280, across about 14,140 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers show 7th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,500 annual U.S. openings • Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers rank in the 7th 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 1,500 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 (+4.6%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $59,280, across about 14,140 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2171-00 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. "Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers." 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-47-2171-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2171-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-47-2171-00,
title = {Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers},
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-47-2171-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.