Takeover Tracker
18%low risk
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
vs

53 shared · 13 different

core competencies

34%medium risk
Recycling and Reclamation Workers

Side-by-Side Comparison

MetricPaving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment OperatorsRecycling and Reclamation Workers
Risk Score18.1%34.2%
Risk TierLow RiskMedium Risk
Risk Percentile4th63th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)0 / 155 / 15
Median Salary$51,650$38,820
Employment46K277K

Skill Comparison

|

Sorted by largest difference

Production and Processing
Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
Transportation
Controlling Machines and Processes
Performing General Physical Activities
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information
Manual DexterityAI-Resistant
Developing and Building Teams
CoordinationAI-Resistant
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
Education and Training

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

25%

total discount

Recycling and Reclamation Workers

25%

total discount

Task Risk Comparison

Tasks sorted by AI automation risk — higher means more automatable

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

0 of 15 at risk
45%Light burners or start heating units of machines, and regulate screed temperatures and asphalt flow rates.
41%Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.
39%Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.
39%Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials.
37%Shovel blacktop.

Recycling and Reclamation Workers

5 of 15 at risk
85%Record logs of recycled materials or waste chemicals removed from products.
59%Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling.
59%Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling.
57%Operate forklifts, pallet jacks, power lifts, or front-end loaders to load bales, bundles, or other heavy items onto trucks for shipping to smelters or other recycled materials processing facilities.
51%Operate processing equipment, such as fiber-sorters and grinders, to sort, crush, or grind recyclable materials.

Wage Comparison

Recycling and Reclamation Workers earns -$12,830(-25%) vs Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment OperatorsRecycling and Reclamation Workers
10th
$38,030$30,370
25th
$44,740$35,080
Median
$51,650$38,820
75th
$66,060$47,550
90th
$90,110$59,600

Premium Head-to-Head Analysis

Displacement Timeline Comparison

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators2028–2035
Recycling and Reclamation Workers2028–2035
20242030203520402045

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators has a longer runway before significant displacement, projected 0 years later than Recycling and Reclamation Workers.

Risk-Adjusted Salary

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

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

$42,301

from $51,650

Recycling and Reclamation Workers

$25,559

from $38,820

After adjusting for AI risk, Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators offers $16,742 more in risk-adjusted pay.

Transition Feasibility

1%

Skill Overlap

Low overlap — significant retraining needed for transition

0

Unique to Paving,

0

Unique to Recycling

Combined Protection Strategy

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

Decision Complexity
Fine Manipulation
Regulatory Barriers
Creativity
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment OperatorsRecycling and Reclamation Workers
Find transitions from Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment OperatorsFind transitions from Recycling and Reclamation Workers