BETA
Updated: Feb 6
BETA
Updated: Feb 6
Evolving
Last Update: 11/21/2025
Your role’s AI Resilience Score is
61.0%
Median Score
Changing Fast
Evolving
Stable
What does this resilience result mean?
These roles are shifting as AI becomes part of everyday workflows. Expect new responsibilities and new opportunities.
AI Resilience Report for
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
They operate heavy machinery to build roads, bridges, and buildings, ensuring everything is done safely and correctly.
Summary
The career of Operating Engineers and Construction Equipment Operators is labeled as "Evolving" because AI technologies, like self-driving diggers, are starting to assist with some tasks like digging and loading. However, many important tasks still need the skill and care of humans, such as attaching equipment and checking machinery.
Read full analysisLearn more about how you can thrive in this position
View analysis
Chat with Coach
Latest news
More career infoLearn more about how you can thrive in this position
View analysisChat with CoachLatest newsMore career infoSummary
The career of Operating Engineers and Construction Equipment Operators is labeled as "Evolving" because AI technologies, like self-driving diggers, are starting to assist with some tasks like digging and loading. However, many important tasks still need the skill and care of humans, such as attaching equipment and checking machinery.
Read full analysisContributing Sources
AI Resilience
All scores are converted into percentiles showing where this career ranks among U.S. careers. For models that measure impact or risk, we flip the percentile (subtract it from 100) to derive resilience.
CareerVillage.org's AI Resilience Analysis
AI Task Resilience
Evolving68.7%
68.7%
Microsoft's Working with AI
AI Applicability
Evolving69.8%
69.8%
Will Robots Take My Job
Automation Resilience
Evolving32.9%
32.9%
High Demand
Labor Market Outlook
We use BLS employment projections to complement the AI-focused assessments from other sources.
Learn about this scoreGrowth Rate (2024-34):
3.6%
Growth Percentile:
58.2%
Annual Openings:
41.9
Annual Openings Pct:
79.6%
Analysis of Current AI Resilience
Operating Engineers
Updated Quarterly • Last Update: 11/22/2025
State of Automation & Augmentation
Operating engineers move earth with big machines like graders and bulldozers [1]. Some of this work now uses AI. For example, engineers at a startup fitted a small loader with GPS and laser sensors so it can dig and dump dirt all by itself when given coordinates [2].
Another team is modifying large excavators to run overnight without drivers [3] [3]. These systems use cameras, lidar (laser) and GPS to follow plans, doing repetitive tasks (digging or loading) that people used to do.
However, many tasks still need human workers. Finding buried pipes usually relies on handheld scanners, not AI – though early research shows computer vision could use things like photos of manholes or radar data to guess where utilities run [4] [5]. Checking fuel levels or attaching hoses and blades is also done by hands-on crews.
Today there’s no common robot that can snug hydraulic hoses or fasten a bulldozer blade; these jobs require the flexibility and care of a person.
Sources
AI Adoption
Adopting these AI tools is happening slowly. Building a “self-driving” digger costs a lot, so companies only try it when it really helps. The construction industry has a labor shortage (about 60% of contractors report trouble finding operators [2]), so running machines 24/7 is appealing [3].
Also, working on a quiet worksite is simpler than driving on highways [3], so regulators are less strict. For example, a recent Japanese trial of an autonomous earth-moving truck was called “a critical first step” toward getting government approval for such technology [6].
Overall, experts expect a gradual change. Companies will train crews to oversee robot helpers, and safety rules will evolve. In the end, most analysts say these robots are meant to make work easier and safer – not to replace people entirely.
As WIRED notes, “the job of a robot is to make life for humans easier, safer, and more productive” [2], freeing skilled workers to do the planning, maintenance, and judgement that machines cannot.
Sources
Help us improve this report.
Tell us if this analysis feels accurate or we missed something.
Share your feedback
More Career Info
Career: Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Parent Careers
Employment & Wage Data
Median Wage
$58,710
Jobs (2024)
489,300
Growth (2024-34)
+3.6%
Annual Openings
41,900
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
None
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024-2034
Task-Level AI Resilience Scores
AI-generated estimates of task resilience over the next 3 years
1
Align machines, cutterheads, or depth gauge makers with reference stakes and guidelines or ground or position equipment, following hand signals of other workers.
2
Coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.
3
Repair and maintain equipment, making emergency adjustments or assisting with major repairs as necessary.
4
Connect hydraulic hoses, belts, mechanical linkages, or power takeoff shafts to tractors.
5
Operate loaders to pull out stumps, rip asphalt or concrete, rough-grade properties, bury refuse, or perform general cleanup.
6
Select and fasten bulldozer blades or other attachments to tractors, using hitches.
7
Talk to clients and study instructions, plans, or diagrams to establish work requirements.
Tasks are ranked by their AI resilience, with the most resilient tasks shown first. Core tasks are essential functions of this occupation, while supplemental tasks provide additional context.
© 2026 CareerVillage.org. All rights reserved.
The AI Resilience Report is a project from CareerVillage.org®, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Built with ❤️ by Sandbox Web
