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Craft and related trades workers · code 7213

Sheet-metal workers

Sheet metal workers make, install and repair articles and parts of articles made out of sheet metal such as sheet steel, copper, tin, brass, aluminium, zinc or galvanized iron. Tasks include - (a) marking sheet metal for cutting and shaping; (b) making and repairing household utensils and other articles in tin, copper and light alloys, or ornamental articles and fittings; (c) making and repairing boilers, tanks, vats and similar containers; (d) installing and repairing sheet metal parts of vehicles and aircraft; (e) converting blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction and assembly of sheet metal products; (f) determining project requirements, including scope, assembly sequences and required methods and materials, according to blueprints, drawings and written or verbal instructions; (g) inspecting product quality and installation to ensure conformity with specifications. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Boilersmith - Coppersmith - Panel beater - Tinsmith Notes Installers of metal roofing are classified in Unit Group 7121: Roofers. Installers of metal drains, gutters and ducts are classified in Unit Group 7126: Plumbers and Pipe Fitters. Workers who make sheet metal products for adaptation and installation by roofers and plumbers are classified in Unit Group 7213: Sheet Metal Workers.

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 151 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • sheet metal worker
  • container equipment assembler
  • coppersmith
  • boilermaker

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

79.4
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 20.6 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 20.6 = 79.4

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

67
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 3 US jobs

46.2
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 44 · hand skill 44 · cramped spaces 50.5 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on 50+ · fiddly 39.4+ Hands-on, fiddly work in tight spaces

More fine handwork, and more time in cramped or awkward spots, than a typical hands-on job. That is exactly what machines find hardest: they do best in tidy, predictable places.

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

This number is probably too high

This score only looks at AI tools like chatbots. It doesn't look at robots at all — and this job rates 67 out of 100 for how hands-on it is, which is exactly where robots come in.

Have a look at the tasks below and judge for yourself. The ILO scored them low because a chatbot can't do them. Whether a machine with hands could is a different question, and we can't answer it yet.

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 37, while the average is 20.6. 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. 37

    Determining project requirements, including scope, assembly sequences, and required methods and materials, according to blueprints, drawings, and written or verbal instructions

    Low
  2. 26.5

    Converting blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction and assembly of sheet metal products

    Low
  3. 25.5

    Inspecting product quality and installation to ensure conformance to specifications.

    Low
  4. 14.5

    Installing and repairing sheet-metal parts of vehicles and aircraft

    Very Low
  5. 14.3

    Making and repairing household utensils and other articles in tin, copper and light alloys, or ornamental articles and fittings

    Very Low
  6. 14.3

    Making and repairing boilers, tanks, vats and similar containers

    Very Low
  7. 12.5

    Marking sheet metal for cutting and shaping

    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.

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

AI helps you
56.1
AI does it for you
22.6

Helping wins by 33.5 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 3222, 3223, 3231, 3241, 3242, 3991, 7123

Compared with similar jobs

There are 65 jobs in the “Craft and related trades workers” group, averaging 83.5. This one is below that.