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Professionals · code 2153

Telecommunications engineers

Telecommunications engineers conduct research and advise on, design and direct the construction, functioning, maintenance and repair of telecommunication systems and equipment. They study and advise on technological aspects of telecommunication engineering materials, products or processes. Tasks include - (a) advising on and designing telecommunications devices or components, systems, equipment and distribution centres; (b) specifying production or installation methods, materials, quality and safety standards and directing production or installation work of telecommunications products and systems; (c) organizing and directing maintenance and repair of existing telecommunication systems, motors and equipment; (d) researching and advising on telecommunications equipment; (e) planning and designing communications networks based on wired, fibre optical and wireless communication media; (f) designing and developing signal processing algorithms and implementing these through appropriate choice of hardware and software; (g) designing telecommunications networks and radio and television distribution systems, including both cable and over the air. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Broadcast engineer - Telecommunications engineer - Telecommunications engineering technologist Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Electronics engineer - 2152

A good share of the tasks are affected. It ranks 370 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • telecommunications engineer

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

51.8
Holds up
against AI Exposed: Gradient 2

AI could take on 48.2 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 48.2 = 51.8

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

32.9
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 2 US jobs

30.7
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 40.2 · hand skill 34.9 · cramped spaces 17 · 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 32.9 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 61.5, while the average is 48.2. 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. 61.5

    Designing and developing signal processing algorithms and implementing these through appropriate choice of hardware and software

    Medium
  2. 56.5

    Planning and designing communications networks based on wired, fibre optical and wireless communication media

    Medium
  3. 55

    Researching and advising on telecommunications equipment

    Medium
  4. 54

    Advising on and designing telecommunications devices or components, systems, equipment and distribution centres

    Medium
  5. 45

    Specifying production or installation methods, materials, quality and safety standards and directing production or installation work of telecommunications products and systems

    Low
  6. 40

    Designing telecommunications networks and radio and television distribution systems, including both cable and over the air.

    Low
  7. 25.5

    Organizing and directing maintenance and repair of existing telecommunication systems, motors and equipment

    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.

One Australian job matches, but only partly: not everyone in it does this job. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
72
AI does it for you
41

Helping wins by 31 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2633

Compared with similar jobs

There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” group, averaging 61.4. This one is below that.