Engineering technicians
Engineering technicians perform a variety of technical support functions to assist engineers with the design, development, operation, installation and maintenance of engineering systems and constructions.
- Employees (UK)
- 87k
- Median annual pay
- £44,330
- Exposure score ?
- 1.3/10 Minimal 5.5/10 Moderate strict reading, with tools is 5.5/10 with-tools reading, strict is 1.3/10
- Wage exposure
- £501m £2.12bn
Higher exposure than 64% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
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.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Calculate required capacities for equipment of proposed system to obtain specified performance and submit data to engineering personnel for approval.
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Record test procedures and results, numerical and graphical data, and recommendations for changes in product or test methods.
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Prepare parts sketches and write work orders and purchase requests to be furnished by outside contractors.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Interpret engineering sketches, specifications, or drawings.
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Calculate required capacities for equipment of proposed system to obtain specified performance and submit data to engineering personnel for approval.
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Review project instructions and blueprints to ascertain test specifications, procedures, and objectives, and test nature of technical problems such as redesign.
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.
Tasks via O*NET "Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians" (17-3027.00).
What AI can already do
5 of 30 tasks, unaided
Calculate required capacities for equipment of proposed system to obtain specified performance and submit data to engineering personnel for approval.
Record test procedures and results, numerical and graphical data, and recommendations for changes in product or test methods.
Prepare parts sketches and write work orders and purchase requests to be furnished by outside contractors.
Prepare equipment inspection schedules, reliability schedules, work plans, or other records.
Discuss changes in design, method of manufacture and assembly, or drafting techniques and procedures with staff and coordinate corrections.
What still needs a person
25 of 30 tasks
Assemble or disassemble complex mechanical systems.
Interpret engineering sketches, specifications, or drawings.
Set up prototype and test apparatus and operate test controlling equipment to observe and record prototype test results.
Review project instructions and blueprints to ascertain test specifications, procedures, and objectives, and test nature of technical problems such as redesign.
Provide technical support to other employees regarding mechanical design, fabrication, testing, or documentation.
Test machines, components, materials, or products to determine characteristics such as performance, strength, or response to stress.
Draft detail drawing or sketch for drafting room completion or to request parts fabrication by machine, sheet or wood shops.
Analyze test results in relation to design or rated specifications and test objectives, and modify or adjust equipment to meet specifications.
Prepare specifications, designs, or sketches for machines, components, or systems related to the generation, transmission, or use of mechanical or fluid energy.
Evaluate tool drawing designs by measuring drawing dimensions and comparing with original specifications for form and function using engineering skills.
Read dials and meters to determine amperage, voltage, electrical output and input at specific operating temperature to analyze parts performance.
Design molds, tools, dies, jigs, or fixtures for use in manufacturing processes.
Analyze energy requirements and distribution systems to maximize the use of intermittent or inflexible renewable energy sources, such as wind or nuclear.
Review project instructions and specifications to identify, modify and plan requirements fabrication, assembly and testing.
Design specialized or customized equipment, machines, or structures.
Conduct failure analyses, document results, and recommend corrective actions.
Set up and conduct tests of complete units and components under operational conditions to investigate proposals for improving equipment performance.
Assist engineers to design, develop, test, or manufacture industrial machinery, consumer products, or other equipment.
Prepare layouts of machinery, tools, plants, or equipment.
Estimate cost factors including labor and material for purchased and fabricated parts and costs for assembly, testing, or installing.
Assist mechanical engineers in product testing through activities such as setting up instrumentation for automobile crash tests.
Conduct statistical studies to analyze or compare production costs for sustainable and nonsustainable designs.
Analyze or estimate production costs, such as labor, equipment, and plant space.
Devise, fabricate, or assemble new or modified mechanical components for products such as industrial machinery or equipment, and measuring instruments.
Monitor, inspect, or test mechanical equipment.
Tasks via O*NET "Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians" (17-3027.00).
What AI can already do
23 of 30 tasks, with tools
Interpret engineering sketches, specifications, or drawings.
Calculate required capacities for equipment of proposed system to obtain specified performance and submit data to engineering personnel for approval.
Review project instructions and blueprints to ascertain test specifications, procedures, and objectives, and test nature of technical problems such as redesign.
Provide technical support to other employees regarding mechanical design, fabrication, testing, or documentation.
Draft detail drawing or sketch for drafting room completion or to request parts fabrication by machine, sheet or wood shops.
Analyze test results in relation to design or rated specifications and test objectives, and modify or adjust equipment to meet specifications.
Record test procedures and results, numerical and graphical data, and recommendations for changes in product or test methods.
Prepare specifications, designs, or sketches for machines, components, or systems related to the generation, transmission, or use of mechanical or fluid energy.
Evaluate tool drawing designs by measuring drawing dimensions and comparing with original specifications for form and function using engineering skills.
Read dials and meters to determine amperage, voltage, electrical output and input at specific operating temperature to analyze parts performance.
Design molds, tools, dies, jigs, or fixtures for use in manufacturing processes.
Analyze energy requirements and distribution systems to maximize the use of intermittent or inflexible renewable energy sources, such as wind or nuclear.
Prepare parts sketches and write work orders and purchase requests to be furnished by outside contractors.
Review project instructions and specifications to identify, modify and plan requirements fabrication, assembly and testing.
Design specialized or customized equipment, machines, or structures.
Conduct failure analyses, document results, and recommend corrective actions.
Assist engineers to design, develop, test, or manufacture industrial machinery, consumer products, or other equipment.
Prepare layouts of machinery, tools, plants, or equipment.
Estimate cost factors including labor and material for purchased and fabricated parts and costs for assembly, testing, or installing.
Prepare equipment inspection schedules, reliability schedules, work plans, or other records.
Conduct statistical studies to analyze or compare production costs for sustainable and nonsustainable designs.
Discuss changes in design, method of manufacture and assembly, or drafting techniques and procedures with staff and coordinate corrections.
Analyze or estimate production costs, such as labor, equipment, and plant space.
What still needs a person
7 of 30 tasks
Assemble or disassemble complex mechanical systems.
Set up prototype and test apparatus and operate test controlling equipment to observe and record prototype test results.
Test machines, components, materials, or products to determine characteristics such as performance, strength, or response to stress.
Set up and conduct tests of complete units and components under operational conditions to investigate proposals for improving equipment performance.
Assist mechanical engineers in product testing through activities such as setting up instrumentation for automobile crash tests.
Devise, fabricate, or assemble new or modified mechanical components for products such as industrial machinery or equipment, and measuring instruments.
Monitor, inspect, or test mechanical equipment.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Associate professional occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
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.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons