UK AI Exposure · Skilled trades occupations
Metal working production and maintenance fitters and technicians
Metal working production and maintenance fitters and technicians erect, install and repair electrical and mechanical plant and industrial machinery, fit and assemble parts and sub-assemblies in the manufacture of metal products and test and adjust new motor vehicles and engines.
- Employees (UK)
- 223k
- Median annual pay
- £40,002
- Exposure score ?
- 0.7/10 Minimal direct 0.7 · with tools 2.1
- Wage exposure
- £624m
Higher exposure than 41% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
The tasks in this role, ranked by AI exposure
Below are the real tasks O*NET records for this occupation, sorted highest exposure first. "AI can do this" means a language model can already handle the task directly. "AI can help" means an LLM can assist but not replace. "Human work" means today's AI doesn't touch it. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
0 of 23 tasks in this role are things an AI can already do today. Task list mapped via O*NET "Millwrights" (49-9044.00).
Replace defective parts of machine, or adjust clearances and alignment of moving parts.
Align machines or equipment, using hoists, jacks, hand tools, squares, rules, micrometers, lasers, or plumb bobs.
Insert shims, adjust tension on nuts and bolts, or position parts, using hand tools and measuring instruments, to set specified clearances between moving and stationary parts.
Signal crane operator to lower basic assembly units to bedplate, and align unit to centerline.
Conduct preventative maintenance and repair, and lubricate machines and equipment.
Assemble and install equipment, using hand tools and power tools.
Assemble machines, and bolt, weld, rivet, or otherwise fasten them to foundation or other structures, using hand tools and power tools.
Move machinery and equipment, using hoists, dollies, rollers, and trucks.
Level bedplate and establish centerline, using straightedge, levels, and transit.
Dismantle machines, using hammers, wrenches, crowbars, and other hand tools.
Bolt parts, such as side and deck plates, jaw plates, and journals, to basic assembly unit.
Lay out mounting holes, using measuring instruments, and drill holes with power drill.
Attach moving parts and subassemblies to basic assembly unit, using hand tools and power tools.
Weld, repair, and fabricate equipment or machinery.
Shrink-fit bushings, sleeves, rings, liners, gears, and wheels to specified items, using portable gas heating equipment.
Troubleshoot equipment, electrical components, hydraulics, or other mechanical systems.
Dismantle machinery and equipment for shipment to installation site, performing installation and maintenance work as part of team.
Connect power unit to machines or steam piping to equipment, and test unit to evaluate its mechanical operation.
Position steel beams to support bedplates of machines and equipment, using blueprints and schematic drawings to determine work procedures.
Fabricate and dismantle parts, equipment, and machines, using a cutting torch or other cutting equipment.
Install robot and modify its program, using teach pendant.
Construct foundation for machines, using hand tools and building materials such as wood, cement, and steel.
Operate engine lathe to grind, file, and turn machine parts to dimensional specifications.
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
This role's strict α score is low because its top tasks are judgment, not drafting. But those same tasks compress dramatically when AI is paired with the right context and tools. The three highest-stakes tasks below are usually where we start.
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Replace defective parts of machine, or adjust clearances and alignment of moving parts.
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Align machines or equipment, using hoists, jacks, hand tools, squares, rules, micrometers, lasers, or plumb bobs.
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Insert shims, adjust tension on nuts and bolts, or position parts, using hand tools and measuring instruments, to set specified clearances between moving and stationary parts.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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