Stonemasons and related trades
Stonemasons erect and repair structures of stone and similar materials and cut, shape and polish granite, marble, slate and other stone for building, ornamental and other purposes.
- Employees (UK)
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- Median annual pay
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- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal 0.4/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 0.4/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.0/10
- Wage exposure
- - -
Higher exposure than 6% 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.
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.
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.
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Set vertical and horizontal alignment of structures, using plumb bob, gauge line, and level.
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Lay out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.
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Set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern.
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.
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Set vertical and horizontal alignment of structures, using plumb bob, gauge line, and level.
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Lay out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.
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Set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern.
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 "Stonemasons" (47-2022.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 16 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
16 of 16 tasks
Set vertical and horizontal alignment of structures, using plumb bob, gauge line, and level.
Lay out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.
Set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern.
Remove wedges, fill joints between stones, finish joints between stones, using a trowel, and smooth the mortar to an attractive finish, using a tuck pointer.
Clean excess mortar or grout from surface of marble, stone, or monument, using sponge, brush, water, or acid.
Shape, trim, face and cut marble or stone preparatory to setting, using power saws, cutting equipment, and hand tools.
Mix mortar or grout and pour or spread mortar or grout on marble slabs, stone, or foundation.
Construct and install prefabricated masonry units.
Smooth, polish, and bevel surfaces, using hand tools and power tools.
Lay brick to build shells of chimneys and smokestacks or to line or reline industrial furnaces, kilns, boilers and similar installations.
Replace broken or missing masonry units in walls or floors.
Remove sections of monument from truck bed, and guide stone onto foundation, using skids, hoist, or truck crane.
Drill holes in marble or ornamental stone and anchor brackets in holes.
Dig trench for foundation of monument, using pick and shovel.
Repair cracked or chipped areas of stone or marble, using blowtorch and mastic, and remove rough or defective spots from concrete, using power grinder or chisel and hammer.
Position mold along guidelines of wall, press mold in place, and remove mold and paper from wall.
Tasks via O*NET "Stonemasons" (47-2022.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 16 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
16 of 16 tasks
Set vertical and horizontal alignment of structures, using plumb bob, gauge line, and level.
Lay out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.
Set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern.
Remove wedges, fill joints between stones, finish joints between stones, using a trowel, and smooth the mortar to an attractive finish, using a tuck pointer.
Clean excess mortar or grout from surface of marble, stone, or monument, using sponge, brush, water, or acid.
Shape, trim, face and cut marble or stone preparatory to setting, using power saws, cutting equipment, and hand tools.
Mix mortar or grout and pour or spread mortar or grout on marble slabs, stone, or foundation.
Construct and install prefabricated masonry units.
Smooth, polish, and bevel surfaces, using hand tools and power tools.
Lay brick to build shells of chimneys and smokestacks or to line or reline industrial furnaces, kilns, boilers and similar installations.
Replace broken or missing masonry units in walls or floors.
Remove sections of monument from truck bed, and guide stone onto foundation, using skids, hoist, or truck crane.
Drill holes in marble or ornamental stone and anchor brackets in holes.
Dig trench for foundation of monument, using pick and shovel.
Repair cracked or chipped areas of stone or marble, using blowtorch and mastic, and remove rough or defective spots from concrete, using power grinder or chisel and hammer.
Position mold along guidelines of wall, press mold in place, and remove mold and paper from wall.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Skilled trades 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