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Craft and related trades workers · code 7311

Precision-instrument makers and repairers

Precision-instrument makers and repairers make, calibrate, repair, maintain, adjust and install mechanical watches and clocks, and nautical, meteorological, optical and other precision instruments and equipment, and set them for correct performance. Tasks include - (a) repairing, cleaning and adjusting mechanisms of timing instruments such as watches and clocks; (b) adjusting timing regulators, using calipers, watch-rate recorders and tweezers; (c) cleaning, rinsing and drying timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines; (d) testing timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments; (e) testing accuracy of meters, gauges, indicators, or other recording or controlling instruments to locate defective components and for conformity with standards; (f) calibrating instruments or scales, using hand tools, computer or electronic devices; (g) inspecting components, connections and drive mechanisms to detect defects; (h) assembling instruments and devices such as barometers, control valves, gyroscopes, hygrometers, speedometers, tachometers and thermostats; (i) testing, calibrating and adjusting electronic, mercurial, aneroid and other types of meteorological instruments for compliance with printed specifications and schematic diagrams, using voltmeters, oscilloscopes, tube testers and other test instruments; (j) adjusting and repairing masts, supporting structures, clearance lights, control panels, control cabling and wiring, and other electrical and mechanical devices; (k) repairing and setting optical instruments such as microscopes, telescopes, theodolites and sextants; (l) checking whether assembled units conform to specifications and ensuring stipulated performance and sensitivity by standard tests. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Instrument/meteorological maker - Photographic equipment repairer - Surgical instrument maker - Watchmaker Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Orthopaedic appliance maker - 3214 - Locksmith - 7222 - Machine tool operator - 7223 - Watch assembler - 8212

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 160 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • optical instrument repairer
  • clock and watchmaker
  • surgical instrument maker
  • watch and clock repairer
  • optical instrument assembler
  • precision instrument assembler

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

78.6
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 21.4 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 21.4 = 78.6

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

48
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 4 US jobs

43.8
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 56.3 · hand skill 44.6 · cramped spaces 30.4 · 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 48 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 32.3, while the average is 21.4. 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. 32.3

    Testing timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments

    Low
  2. 30

    Testing accuracy of meters, gauges, indicators or other recording or controlling instruments to locate defective components and for conformance to standards

    Low
  3. 30

    Testing, calibrating and adjusting electronic, mercurial, aneroid and other types of meteorological instruments for compliance with printed specifications and schematic diagrams, using voltmeters, oscilloscopes, tube testers, and other test instruments

    Low
  4. 28.5

    Checking whether assembled units conform to specifications and ensuring stipulated performance and sensitivity by standard tests.

    Low
  5. 26

    Calibrating instruments or scales, using hand tools and computer or electronic devices

    Low
  6. 20.5

    Adjusting timing regulators, using calipers, watch-rate recorders and tweezers

    Very Low
  7. 20.3

    Inspecting components, connections and drive mechanisms to detect defects

    Very Low
  8. 14.5

    Assembling instruments and devices such as barometers, control valves, gyroscopes, hygrometers, speedometers, tachometers and thermostats

    Very Low
  9. 14.4

    Repairing, cleaning and adjusting mechanisms of timing instruments such as watches and clocks

    Very Low
  10. 13.8

    Repairing and setting optical instruments such as microscopes, telescopes, theodolites and sextants

    Very Low
  11. 13.5

    Adjusting and repairing masts, supporting structures, clearance lights, control panels, control cabling and wiring, and other electrical and mechanical devices

    Very Low
  12. 13.3

    Cleaning, rinsing and drying timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines

    Very Low

12 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
64
AI does it for you
28

Helping wins by 36 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

Compared with similar jobs

There are 65 jobs in the “Craft and related trades workers” group, averaging 83.6. This one is below that.