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Professionals · code 2145

Chemical engineers

Chemical engineers conduct research and develop, advise on and direct commercial-scale chemical processes and production of various substances and items such as crude oil, petroleum derivatives, food and drink products, medicines, or synthetic materials. They direct maintenance and repair of chemical plant and equipment and study and advise on chemical aspects of particular materials, products or processes. Tasks include - (a) conducting research and advising on, and developing, commercial-scale chemical processes to refine crude oil and other liquids or gases, and to produce substances and items such as petroleum derivatives, explosives, food and drink products, medicines, or synthetic materials; (b) specifying chemical production methods, materials and quality standards and ensuring that they conform to specifications; (c) establishing control standards and procedures to ensure safety and efficiency of chemical production operations and safety of workers’ operating equipment or of those working in close proximity to ongoing chemical reactions; (d) designing chemical plant equipment and devising processes for manufacturing chemicals and products; (e) performing tests throughout stages of production to determine degree of control over variables, including temperature, density, specific gravity, and pressure; (f) developing safety procedures to be employed; (g) preparing estimates of production costs and production progress reports for management; (h) performing laboratory studies of steps in the manufacture of new products and testing proposed processes in small-scale operations such as a pilot plant. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Chemical engineer - Fuel technologist - Plastics technologist - Refinery process engineer

A few tasks are affected, but the heart of the job isn't. It ranks 277 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • synthetic materials engineer
  • chemical engineer

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

64.8
Holds up
against AI Minimal Exposure

AI could take on 35.2 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 35.2 = 64.8

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

24.2
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, matched to one US job

11.9
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 17.9 · hand skill 1.7 · cramped spaces 16.2 · 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 24.2 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 62, while the average is 35.2. 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. 62

    Preparing estimates of production costs and production progress reports for management

    Medium
  2. 40.5

    Developing safety procedures to be employed

    Low
  3. 37.3

    Specifying chemical production methods, materials and quality standards and ensuring that they conform to specifications

    Low
  4. 31.1

    Conducting research and advising on, and developing commercial-scale chemical processes to refine crude oil and other liquids or gases, and to produce substances and items such as petroleum derivatives, explosives, food and drink products, medicines, or synthetic materials

    Low
  5. 31

    Performing tests throughout stages of production to determine degree of control over variables, including temperature, density, specific gravity and pressure

    Low
  6. 28.8

    Establishing control standards and procedures to ensure safety and efficiency of chemical production operations and safety of workers operating equipment or of those working in close proximity to ongoing chemical reactions

    Low
  7. 26.3

    Designing chemical plant equipment and devising processes for manufacturing chemicals and products

    Low
  8. 24.5

    Performing laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and testing proposed process in small scale operation such as a pilot plant.

    Very Low

8 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.

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

AI helps you
72.3
AI does it for you
32.3

Helping wins by 40 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2331, 2339, 2342

Compared with similar jobs

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