Maintenance Workers, Machinery vs Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners AI Risk

Job 1

Job 2

Job 1

Job 2

medium risk

Maintenance Workers, Machinery

58 shared · 9 different

core competencies

medium risk

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

Side-by-Side Comparison

Maintenance Workers, Machinery leads 4–1

Metric	Maintenance Workers, Machinery	Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners
Risk Score	29.7%	38.5%
Risk Tier	Medium Risk	Medium Risk
Risk Percentile	37th	77th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)	10 / 15	8 / 15
Median Salary	$60,500	$48,970
Employment	57K	6K

Skill Comparison

Sorted by largest difference

Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment

Mechanical

Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment

Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment

Engineering and Technology

Near Vision

Design

Thinking Creatively

Controlling Machines and Processes

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Maintenance Workers, Machinery

27%

total discount

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

27%

total discount

Task Risk Comparison

Tasks sorted by AI automation risk — higher means more automatable

Maintenance Workers, Machinery

10 of 15 at risk

88%Inventory and requisition machine parts, equipment, and other supplies so that stock can be maintained and replenished.

86%Read work orders and specifications to determine machines and equipment requiring repair or maintenance.

86%Record production, repair, and machine maintenance information.

61%Transport machine parts, tools, equipment, and other material between work areas and storage, using cranes, hoists, or dollies.

57%Set up and operate machines, and adjust controls to regulate operations.

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

8 of 15 at risk

84%Study blueprints or layouts of metal workpieces to determine grinding procedures, and to plan machine setups and operational sequences.

78%Compute numbers, widths, and angles of cutting tools, micrometers, scales, and gauges, and adjust tools to produce specified cuts.

76%Inspect dies to detect defects, assess wear, and verify specifications, using micrometers, steel gauge pins, and loupes.

61%Monitor machine operations to determine whether adjustments are necessary, stopping machines when problems occur.

59%Remove finished workpieces from machines and place them in boxes or on racks, setting aside pieces that are defective.

Wage Comparison

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners earns -$11,530(-19%) vs Maintenance Workers, Machinery

Maintenance Workers, MachineryTool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

10th

$40,080$33,770

25th

$48,600$39,520

Median

$60,500$48,970

75th

$72,260$60,210

90th

$83,560$74,120

Premium Head-to-Head Analysis

Displacement Timeline Comparison

Maintenance Workers, Machinery2028–2035

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners2028–2035

20242030203520402045

Maintenance Workers, Machinery has a longer runway before significant displacement, projected 0 years later than Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners.

Risk-Adjusted Salary

Salary weighted by displacement risk: salary × (1 − risk%)

Maintenance Workers, Machinery

$42,562

from $60,500

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

$30,097

from $48,970

After adjusting for AI risk, Maintenance Workers, Machinery offers $12,465 more in risk-adjusted pay.

Transition Feasibility

Skill Overlap

Low overlap — significant retraining needed for transition

Unique to Maintenance

Unique to Tool

Combined Protection Strategy

Regardless of which path you choose, focus on these protective factors

Fine Manipulation

Regulatory Barriers

Creativity

Decision Complexity

Maintenance Workers, MachineryTool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

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