# Sheet Metal Workers

> Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

- **SOC code:** 47-2211.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2211-00
- **Also known as:** HVAC Sheet Metal Installer (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Sheet Metal Installer), Sheet Metal Fabricator, Sheet Metal Mechanic, Sheet Metal Worker, Commercial Sheet Metal Service Installer, Field Installer, HVAC Sheet Metal Specialist (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Sheet Metal Specialist), Sheet Metal Installer
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Inspect individual parts, assemblies, or installations, using measuring instruments, such as calipers, scales, or micrometers.
- Maintain equipment, making repairs or modifications when necessary.
- Fabricate ducts for high efficiency heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to maximize efficiency of systems.
- Fasten seams or joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, or bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.
- Transport prefabricated parts to construction sites for assembly and installation.
- Install assemblies, such as flashing, pipes, tubes, heating and air conditioning ducts, furnace casings, rain gutters, or downspouts in supportive frameworks.
- Hire, train, or supervise new employees or apprentices.
- Lay out, measure, and mark dimensions and reference lines on material, such as roofing panels, using calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, or rulers.
- Determine project requirements, such as scope, assembly sequences, or required methods or materials, using blueprints, drawings, or written or verbal instructions.
- Maneuver completed roofing units into position for installation.
- Fabricate or alter parts at construction sites, using shears, hammers, punches, or drills.
- Convert blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction or assembly of sheet metal products.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Mechanical _(knowledge)_
- Building and Construction _(knowledge)_
- Mathematics _(knowledge)_
- Design _(knowledge)_
- Visualization _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Manual Dexterity _(ability)_
- Multilimb Coordination _(ability)_
- Information Ordering _(ability)_
- Selective Attention _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Windows _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Autodesk AutoCAD _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Windows _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Applied Production ProFab
- Applied Production ProFold
- Corte Certo
- FCC Software AutoPOL Series
- JETCAM Expert
- Merry Mechanization SMP/IS
- PTC Creo Parametric

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 12th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 12th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 18th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 16th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 66th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 2.4% growth (About average); 10.6k annual openings; 127k → 130.1k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $60,850; 117,470 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 64% automation, — augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 2.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Inspect individual parts, assemblies, or installations, using measuring instruments, such as calipers, scales, or micrometers. _(0.7% of measured AI use; directive)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me inspect individual parts, assemblies, or installations, using measuring instruments, such as calipers, scales, or micrometers.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2211-00_