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Professionals · code 2144

Mechanical engineers

Mechanical engineers conduct research; advise on, design, and direct production of machines, aircraft, ships, machinery and industrial plant, equipment and systems; advise on and direct their functioning, maintenance and repair; or study and advise on mechanical aspects of particular materials, products or processes. Tasks include - (a) advising on and designing machinery and tools for manufacturing, mining, construction, agricultural, and other industrial purposes; (b) advising on and designing steam, internal combustion and other non-electric motors and engines used for propulsion of railway locomotives, road vehicles or aircraft, or for driving industrial or other machinery; (c) advising on and designing: hulls, superstructures and propulsion systems of ships; mechanical plant and equipment for the release, control and utilization of energy; heating, ventilation and refrigeration systems, steering gear, pumps, and other mechanical equipment; (d) advising on and designing airframes, undercarriages and other equipment for aircraft as well as suspension systems, brakes, vehicle bodies and other components of road vehicles; (e) advising on and designing non-electrical parts of apparatus or products such as word processors, computers, precision instruments, cameras and projectors; (f) establishing control standards and procedures to ensure efficient functioning and safety of machines, machinery, tools, motors, engines, industrial plant, equipment or systems; (g) ensuring that equipment, operation and maintenance comply with design specifications and safety standards. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Aeronautical engineer - Engine designer - Marine architect - Marine engineer - Mechanical engineer Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Ships’ engineer - 3151

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 259 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • mechanical engineer

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

67.7
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 32.3 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 32.3 = 67.7

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

37.3
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 6 US jobs

24.2
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 28.2 · hand skill 17.1 · cramped spaces 27.5 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on under 50 Less than half hands-on

Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

What this number leaves out This job rates 37.3 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 43.5, while the average is 32.3. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 43.5

    Advising on and designing non-electrical parts of apparatus or products such as word processors, computers, precision instruments, cameras and projectors

    Low
  2. 36

    Advising on and designing airframes, undercarriages and other equipment for aircraft as well as suspension systems, brakes, vehicle bodies and other components of road vehicles

    Low
  3. 33.8

    Advising on and designing machinery and tools for manufacturing, mining, construction, agricultural, and other industrial purposes

    Low
  4. 33.5

    Advising on and designing: hulls, superstructures and propulsion systems of ships; mechanical plant and equipment for the release, control and utilization of energy; heating, ventilation and refrigeration systems, steering gear, pumps and other mechanical equipment

    Low
  5. 29.6

    Establishing control standards and procedures to ensure efficient functioning and safety of machines, machinery, tools, motors, engines, industrial plant, equipment, or systems

    Low
  6. 27.8

    Ensuring that equipment, operation and maintenance comply with design specifications and safety standards.

    Low
  7. 22.3

    Advising on and designing steam, internal combustion and other non-electric motors and engines used for propulsion of railway locomotives, road vehicles or aircraft, or for driving industrial or other machinery

    Very Low

7 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

2 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
72
AI does it for you
35

Helping wins by 37 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2335, 2339

Compared with similar jobs

There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” group, averaging 61.3. This one is above that.