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 →Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons
Occupation · SOC 49-9045.00
Build or repair equipment such as furnaces, kilns, cupolas, boilers, converters, ladles, soaking pits, and ovens, using refractory materials.
Also called: Cupola Repairer · Ladle Liner · Refractory Bricklayer · Refractory Technician · Cell Reliner · Furnace Repairer · Hot Repairman · Ladle Repairman · Refractory Worker · Bondactor Machine Operator · Clay Structure Builder · Clay Structure Servicer
Job family: Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-49-9045-00/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.
- Declining employment outlook (-16.9% by 2034)
- 100 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $58,540/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (66th); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (9th)
9th-percentile task overlap — yet about 100 openings a year (-16.9% 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 | 9th | -1.2 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 3rd | 0.0 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 27th | 0.1 |
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.
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 · 66th percentile among occupations · Moderate
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Declining · -16.9% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 100 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 1,100 → 900 |
“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 2 occupations below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons sits at the 17th 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.
15% mean task exposure (2025)
17th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−2 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Industrial Machinery Mechanics and Repairers · 7233 | 17% | Not exposed |
| Bricklayers and Related Workers · 7112 | 9% | 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 16 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Measure furnace walls to determine dimensions and cut required number of sheets from plastic block, using saws. Supplemental · importance 4.3
- Reline or repair ladles and pouring spouts with refractory clay, using trowels. Core · importance 4.2
- Dry and bake new linings by placing inverted linings over burners, building fires in ladles, or by using blowtorches. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Remove worn or damaged plastic block refractory linings of furnaces, using hand tools. Supplemental · importance 3.9
- Chip slag from linings of ladles or remove linings when beyond repair, using hammers and chisels. Core · importance 3.7
- Climb scaffolding, carrying hoses, and spray surfaces of cupolas with refractory mixtures, using spray equipment. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Mix specified amounts of sand, clay, mortar powder, and water to form refractory clay or mortar, using shovels or mixing machines. Core · importance 3.6
- Spread mortar on stopper heads and rods, using trowels, and slide brick sleeves over rods to form refractory jackets. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Dump and tamp clay in molds, using tamping tools. Supplemental · importance 3.3
- Transfer clay structures to curing ovens, melting tanks, and drawing kilns, using forklifts. Supplemental · importance 3.2
- Disassemble molds, and cut, chip, and smooth clay structures such as floaters, drawbars, and L-blocks. Supplemental
- Drill holes in furnace walls, bolt overlapping layers of plastic to walls, and hammer surfaces to compress layers into solid sheets. Supplemental
- Fasten stopper heads to rods with metal pins to assemble refractory stoppers used to plug pouring nozzles of steel ladles. Supplemental
- Install clay structures in melting tanks and drawing kilns to control the flow and temperature of molten glass, using hoists and hand tools. Supplemental
- Install preformed metal scaffolding in interiors of cupolas, using hand tools. Supplemental
- Tighten locknuts holding refractory stopper assemblies together, spread mortar on jackets to seal sleeve joints, and dry mortar in ovens. Supplemental
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Reline furnaces using ramming material.
Work activities
- Repair worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.
- Clean equipment, parts, or tools to repair or maintain them in good working order.
- Prepare compounds or solutions to be used for repairs.
- Measure distances or dimensions.
- Cut materials according to specifications or needs.
- Fabricate parts or components.
- Repair structural components.
- Climb equipment or structures to access work areas.
- Seal gaps or cracks to prevent leakage or moisture intrusion.
- Place materials into molds.
- Move large objects using heavy equipment.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Abilities
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.6 | |
| Extent Flexibility | 3.5 | |
| Near Vision | 3.5 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.4 | |
| Manual Dexterity | 3.4 | |
| Control Precision | 3.4 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 3.4 | |
| Trunk Strength | 3.3 | |
| Gross Body Equilibrium | 3.3 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.1 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.1 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.1 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 3.0 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 2.9 | |
| Category Flexibility | 2.9 | |
| Perceptual Speed | 2.9 | |
| Visualization | 2.9 | |
| Reaction Time | 2.9 | |
| Far Vision | 2.9 | |
| Auditory Attention | 2.9 | |
| Speech Clarity | 2.9 |
Knowledge
| Mechanical | 3.5 | |
| Production and Processing | 3.0 |
Transferable skills
| Operations Monitoring | 3.3 | |
| Repairing | 3.1 | |
| Operation and Control | 3.0 | |
| Equipment Maintenance | 3.0 | |
| Coordination | 2.9 | |
| Troubleshooting | 2.9 | |
| Time Management | 2.9 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 2.8 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 2.8 |
Essential skills
| Active Listening | 3.0 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 2.9 | |
| Critical Thinking | 2.9 | |
| Speaking | 2.8 | |
| Monitoring | 2.8 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Access | Data base user interface and query software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Presentation software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | Hot technology |
| Maintenance management software | Facilities management software | |
| Time tracking software | Time accounting 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: Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians . 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.
| High School Diploma | 74.8% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 17.3% | |
| Some College Courses | 7.1% | |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 0.8% |
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 | |
| Artistic | 1.3 |
Interest areas
| Physical/Manual Labor | 6.2 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 2.7 | |
| Engineering | 2.6 | |
| Construction/Woodwork | 2.5 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 1.6 | |
| Physical Science | 1.4 | |
| Accounting | 1.2 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 1.1 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 2.3 | |
| Cautiousness | 2.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 1.9 | |
| Stress Tolerance | 1.2 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $37,050 |
| 25th percentile | $48,380 |
| Median (50th) | $58,540 |
| 75th percentile | $73,940 |
| 90th percentile | $81,440 |
| People employed | 1,100 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing · Sector | 630 | $52,630 |
| Construction · Sector | 280 | $62,170 |
| Masonry Contractors · National industry | 140 | $65,060 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | — | $76,880 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Masonry Contractors · National industry | 136.66× | 140 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 6.92× | 630 |
| Construction · Sector | 4.83× | 280 |
Related occupations
Part of the Construction career cluster.
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons · 47-2021.00 Compare →
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic · 51-9195.00 Compare →
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters · 47-3011.00 Compare →
- Foundry Mold and Coremakers · 51-4071.00 Compare →
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers · 47-2053.00 Compare →
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · 51-4191.00 Compare →
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers · 47-2051.00 Compare →
- Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders · 51-4051.00 Compare →
- Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters · 51-2041.00 Compare →
- Boilermakers · 47-2011.00 Compare →
- Pourers and Casters, Metal · 51-4052.00 Compare →
- Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall · 47-2131.00 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 Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons — 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
- Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 17th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons show 9th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 100 annual U.S. openings
- Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons rank in the 9th 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 100 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 declining (-16.9%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $58,540, across about 1,100 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons show 9th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 100 annual U.S. openings • Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons rank in the 9th 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 100 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 declining (-16.9%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $58,540, across about 1,100 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-9045-00 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. "Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons." 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-49-9045-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-9045-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-49-9045-00,
title = {Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons},
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-49-9045-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.