Will AI replace construction laborers?

Unlikely, though parts of the work are changing. About 1h 35m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by robots. The breakdown: 12m that AI mostly does alone, 1h 23m that robots have done in real workplaces. The other 6h 25m (80%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 7.3% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 1 of 27 tasks, about 12m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities. (12m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)

For some tasks, yes. Robots have done 4 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 1h 23m of a typical shift. 18 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here. For 3 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

• Load, unload, or identify building materials, machinery, or tools, distributing them to the appropriate locations, according to project plans or specifications. (59m a shift; e.g. FoxBot autonomous forklift, in use)
• Measure, mark, or record openings or distances to layout areas where construction work will be performed. (12m a shift; e.g. Dusty Robotics FieldPrint Platform (FieldPrinter 2), in use)
• Spray materials, such as water, sand, steam, vinyl, paint, or stucco, through hoses to clean, coat, or seal surfaces. (6m a shift; e.g. Okibo EG7 / EP-1000 plastering and painting robot, in use)
• Mop, brush, or spread paints, cleaning solutions, or other compounds over surfaces to clean them or to provide protection. (6m a shift; e.g. Okibo construction finishing robot (with PCI), in use)

6h 25m of a typical shift, or 80%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards. (59m a shift)
• Provide assistance to craft workers, such as carpenters, plasterers, or masons. (59m a shift)
• Dig ditches or trenches, backfill excavations, or compact and level earth to grade specifications, using picks, shovels, pneumatic tampers, or rakes. (41m a shift)
• Position, join, align, or seal structural components, such as concrete wall sections or pipes. (24m a shift)
• Erect or dismantle scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary structures. (24m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 97% spend more than half the day on their feet
• 81% work outdoors in all weather every day
• 80% talk face to face with others every day

We track 2 sourced company moves that affect this job. Most recent:

• Jan 21, 2026: DEWALT drilling robot pilots on hyperscaler data center builds (Pilot)
• Sep 4, 2025: AES sends Maximo solar robot fleet to California Bellefield project (Rolling out)

On Indeed, job postings in the Construction sector are at 129% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 6.4% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 120,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $47,120 a year ($22.66 an hour), 8% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $35,090 and $78,090 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 7.3% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 1.6 million jobs in 2035. It expects about 120,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 1.1 million people in the U.S., roughly 0.71% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 32nd largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 1.6 million in 2035.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 35% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 2 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: high school diploma, some training. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Coordination, Speaking
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 6h 25m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Autodesk Revit, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Windows
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills, with less of a typical shift touched by AI or robots. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Roustabouts, Oil and Gas (28m touched, $47k median pay)
• Floor Sanders and Finishers (0m touched, $50k median pay)
• Glaziers (37m touched, $57k median pay)
• Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers (41m touched, $57k median pay)
• Painters, Construction and Maintenance (7m touched, $49k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 1 observed in real AI use, 4 with robots in real deployments, 22 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.