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Craft and related trades workers · code 7222

Toolmakers and related workers

Toolmakers and related workers make and repair custom-made and specialized tools, sports guns, locks, dies, patterns, machinery components and other metal articles using hand and machine tools to work metal to fine tolerances. Tasks include - (a) reading and interpreting engineering drawings and specifications of tools, dies, prototypes or models; (b) preparing templates and sketches, and determining work processes; (c) visualizing and computing dimensions, sizes, shapes and tolerances of assemblies, based on specifications; (d) positioning, securing and measuring metal stock or castings to lay out for machining; (e) setting up, operating and maintaining conventional and computer numerically controlled machine tools to cut, turn, mill, plane, drill, bore, grind or otherwise shape work pieces to prescribed dimensions and finish; (f) fitting and assembling parts to make and repair jigs, fixtures and gauges; (g) repairing and modifying sports guns and other small arms; (h) making, fitting, assembling, repairing and installing lock parts and locks; (i) making and repairing metal patterns for preparation of foundry moulds; (j) laying out lines and reference points on metal stock to guide other workers who cut, turn, mill, grind or otherwise shape metal; (k) verifying dimensions, alignments and clearances of finished parts for conformity with specifications, using precision measuring instruments and testing completed items for proper operation. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Die maker - Gunsmith - Jig maker - Locksmith - Patternmaker - Toolmaker Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Tool production machine operator - 7223

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 147 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • casting mould maker
  • tool and die maker
  • gunsmith
  • precision mechanic
  • locksmith

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

79.5
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 20.5 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 20.5 = 79.5

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

65.2
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 6 US jobs

41.2
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 47 · hand skill 44.1 · cramped spaces 32.5 · 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 65.2 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 41.5, while the average is 20.5. 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. 41.5

    Preparing templates and sketches, and determining work processes

    Low
  2. 35

    Reading and interpreting engineering drawings and specifications of tools, dies, prototypes or models

    Low
  3. 27.3

    Visualizing and computing dimensions, sizes, shapes and tolerances of assemblies, based on specifications

    Low
  4. 25.8

    Verifying dimensions, alignments and clearances of finished parts for conformity with specifications, using precision measuring instruments and testing completed items for proper operation.

    Low
  5. 15

    Setting up, operating and maintaining conventional and computer numerically controlled machine tools to cut, turn, mill, plane, drill, bore, grind or otherwise shape work pieces to prescribed dimensions and finish

    Very Low
  6. 15

    Making, fitting, assembling, repairing and installing lock parts and locks

    Very Low
  7. 15

    Making and repairing metal patterns for preparation of foundry moulds

    Very Low
  8. 14.5

    Fitting and assembling parts to make and repair jigs, fixtures and gauges

    Very Low
  9. 13.5

    Positioning, securing and measuring metal stock or castings to lay out for machining

    Very Low
  10. 11.8

    Laying out lines and reference points on metal stock to guide other workers who cut, turn, mill, grind or otherwise shape metal

    Very Low
  11. 10.8

    Repairing and modifying sports guns and other small arms

    Very Low

11 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
63.5
AI does it for you
25

Helping wins by 38.5 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 3233, 3234

Compared with similar jobs

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