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Electrical

and electronic trades n.e.c.

Skilled trades occupations, SOC 2020 code 5249. Back to the map

Job holders in this group perform a variety of electrical and electronic occupations not elsewhere classified in minor group 524: Electrical and electronic trades.

Employees (UK)
20k
Median annual pay
£48,171
Exposure score ?
0.2/10 Minimal 4.0/10 Moderate strict reading, with tools is 4.0/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.2/10
Wage exposure
£19m £385m

Higher exposure than 15% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.

Read the score as
What a model can do unaided. A model plus workflow tools, closer to how work runs in 2026.

What this score means.

Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.

If you are in this role

Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.

A real share of the task list is within reach, especially drafting, summarising, research and analysis. People in this role who learn to direct AI well will pull ahead of those who do not.

If you are in this role

Treat AI like a capable junior you manage. Where you would hand a task to a junior with a clear brief, AI can do it now. Spend the time you get back on judgement and relationships.

Two clerks at the US Census Bureau punching population cards on a pantograph and a keypunch, with filing boxes behind them

Where the work usually starts.

This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.

  1. Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas.

    O*NET importance 4.8 of 5 Still needs a person under the strict reading

  2. Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites.

    O*NET importance 4.8 of 5 Still needs a person under the strict reading

  3. Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs.

    O*NET importance 4.7 of 5 Still needs a person under the strict reading

For this role the labels do not surface obvious candidates, so the work would start with the highest-stakes tasks below and find the AI angle in conversation.

  1. Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas.

    O*NET importance 4.8 of 5 Human work

  2. Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites.

    O*NET importance 4.8 of 5 Human work

  3. Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs.

    O*NET importance 4.7 of 5 Human work

Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.

Every task in the role.

Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.

What AI can already do

0 of 23 tasks, unaided

No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.

What still needs a person

23 of 23 tasks

  1. Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas.

    Importance 4.8 of 5

  2. Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites.

    Importance 4.8 of 5

  3. Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs.

    Importance 4.7 of 5

  4. Climb poles or use truck-mounted buckets to access equipment.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  5. Install, maintain, and repair electrical distribution and transmission systems, including conduits, cables, wires, and related equipment, such as transformers, circuit breakers, and switches.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  6. Inspect and test power lines and auxiliary equipment to locate and identify problems, using reading and testing instruments.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  7. Coordinate work assignment preparation and completion with other workers.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  8. Replace or straighten damaged poles.

    Importance 4.4 of 5

  9. String wire conductors and cables between poles, towers, trenches, pylons, and buildings, setting lines in place and using winches to adjust tension.

    Importance 4.4 of 5

  10. Attach cross-arms, insulators, and auxiliary equipment to poles prior to installing them.

    Importance 4.4 of 5

  11. Dig holes, using augers, and set poles, using cranes and power equipment.

    Importance 4.3 of 5

  12. Travel in trucks, helicopters, and airplanes to inspect lines for freedom from obstruction and adequacy of insulation.

    Importance 4.3 of 5

  13. Identify defective sectionalizing devices, circuit breakers, fuses, voltage regulators, transformers, switches, relays, or wiring, using wiring diagrams and electrical-testing instruments.

    Importance 4.2 of 5

  14. Install watt-hour meters and connect service drops between power lines and consumers' facilities.

    Importance 4.2 of 5

  15. Test conductors, according to electrical diagrams and specifications, to identify corresponding conductors and to prevent incorrect connections.

    Importance 4.1 of 5

  16. Place insulating or fireproofing materials over conductors and joints.

    Importance 4.0 of 5

  17. Splice or solder cables together or to overhead transmission lines, customer service lines, or street light lines, using hand tools, epoxies, or specialized equipment.

    Importance 4.0 of 5

  18. Trim trees that could be hazardous to the functioning of cables or wires.

    Importance 3.9 of 5

  19. Clean, tin, and splice corresponding conductors by twisting ends together or by joining ends with metal clamps and soldering connections.

    Importance 3.8 of 5

  20. Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks.

    Importance 3.8 of 5

  21. Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduit running through the trenches.

    Importance 3.4 of 5

  22. Cut trenches for laying underground cables, using trenchers and cable plows.

    Importance 3.3 of 5

  23. Cut and peel lead sheathing and insulation from defective or newly installed cables and conduits prior to splicing.

    Importance 3.2 of 5

What AI can already do

0 of 23 tasks, with tools

Even with tools, no tasks here are labelled as something AI can do today. The work is judgment, presence, or context-heavy enough that the academic labelling sees no leverage.

What still needs a person

23 of 23 tasks

  1. Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas.

    Importance 4.8 of 5

  2. Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites.

    Importance 4.8 of 5

  3. Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs.

    Importance 4.7 of 5

  4. Climb poles or use truck-mounted buckets to access equipment.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  5. Install, maintain, and repair electrical distribution and transmission systems, including conduits, cables, wires, and related equipment, such as transformers, circuit breakers, and switches.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  6. Inspect and test power lines and auxiliary equipment to locate and identify problems, using reading and testing instruments.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  7. Coordinate work assignment preparation and completion with other workers.

    Importance 4.5 of 5

  8. Replace or straighten damaged poles.

    Importance 4.4 of 5

  9. String wire conductors and cables between poles, towers, trenches, pylons, and buildings, setting lines in place and using winches to adjust tension.

    Importance 4.4 of 5

  10. Attach cross-arms, insulators, and auxiliary equipment to poles prior to installing them.

    Importance 4.4 of 5

  11. Dig holes, using augers, and set poles, using cranes and power equipment.

    Importance 4.3 of 5

  12. Travel in trucks, helicopters, and airplanes to inspect lines for freedom from obstruction and adequacy of insulation.

    Importance 4.3 of 5

  13. Identify defective sectionalizing devices, circuit breakers, fuses, voltage regulators, transformers, switches, relays, or wiring, using wiring diagrams and electrical-testing instruments.

    Importance 4.2 of 5

  14. Install watt-hour meters and connect service drops between power lines and consumers' facilities.

    Importance 4.2 of 5

  15. Test conductors, according to electrical diagrams and specifications, to identify corresponding conductors and to prevent incorrect connections.

    Importance 4.1 of 5

  16. Place insulating or fireproofing materials over conductors and joints.

    Importance 4.0 of 5

  17. Splice or solder cables together or to overhead transmission lines, customer service lines, or street light lines, using hand tools, epoxies, or specialized equipment.

    Importance 4.0 of 5

  18. Trim trees that could be hazardous to the functioning of cables or wires.

    Importance 3.9 of 5

  19. Clean, tin, and splice corresponding conductors by twisting ends together or by joining ends with metal clamps and soldering connections.

    Importance 3.8 of 5

  20. Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks.

    Importance 3.8 of 5

  21. Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduit running through the trenches.

    Importance 3.4 of 5

  22. Cut trenches for laying underground cables, using trenchers and cable plows.

    Importance 3.3 of 5

  23. Cut and peel lead sheathing and insulation from defective or newly installed cables and conduits prior to splicing.

    Importance 3.2 of 5

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This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.

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