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Craft and related trades workers · code 7422

Information and communications technology installers and servicers

Software can monitor the network. Climbing the mast is still a technician's job.

Giving technical advice and monitoring telecoms systems is the one task AI could take a fair chunk of. Putting up antennae and joining cables it barely touches.

What they actually do (and what else they get called)

Information and communications technology (ICT) installers and servicers install, repair and maintain telecommunications equipment, data transmission equipment, cables, antennae and conduits, and repair, fit and maintain computers. Tasks include - (a) maintaining, troubleshooting, testing and repairing computers, data transmission equipment and computer peripherals; (b) fitting and adjusting computer hardware; (c) installing, maintaining, repairing and diagnosing malfunctions of microwave, telemetry, multiplexing, satellite and other radio and electromagnetic wave communications systems; (d) providing technical advice and information, and monitoring the performance of complex telecommunications networks and equipment; (e) installing and repairing cabling for computer, radio, telephone and television transmission; (f) joining telecommunications and data cables, and sealing sheathes; (g) installing, maintaining and repairing antennae used in communications. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Communications technology servicer - Computer equipment fitter - Computer hardware installer - Data and telecommunications cabler - Telecommunications equipment repairer - Telecommunications line worker - Telephone installer Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Engineering technician (telecommunications) - 3522

  • security alarm technician
  • telecommunications technician
  • computer hardware repair technician
  • radio technician
  • communication infrastructure maintainer
  • mobile devices technician
  • telecommunications equipment maintainer

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

76 / 100

Mostly holds up against AI

AI can take a few chores off your plate, but most of the day is still yours.

Not the odds you keep your job. It's how much of the everyday work still needs a person, out of 100.

← Robot's turf Human's turf →

The ILO's official verdict: Not Exposed

186 of 427 for holding up against AI

Why this score?

The ILO rated each of this job's 7 tasks for how much of it AI could do. They average 23.9 out of 100, so it holds up at 100 − 23.9 = 76.1.

That's the whole sum. No black box, no secret sauce: you can check it against the ILO's study. ILO group “Not Exposed”: None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count.

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use

Pinch of salt: this number is probably too rosy

It only asks what AI software could do, and this job is 65 out of 100 hands-on. A chatbot can't do that part. A robot might, one day, and nobody measures how close that is.

Man v Bot · compare

Who holds up better?

Information and communications technology installers and servicers 76

v

Go on, try your partner's job. Or your sibling's. We won't tell.

Man v Bot

Where the bot helps, and where the human wins

Bot

What AI takes

The routine stuff. You may not miss it.

  • Network monitoring and remote diagnostics.
  • Technical advice through support tools.
  • Troubleshooting guided by software.

Man

What people still do better

Judgement, trust and skilled hands. Hard to download.

  • Installing cables, antennas and hardware.
  • Working at height and in tight spaces.
  • Fixing faults on site.

Both

What's arriving

New work that only exists because the AI does.

  • 5G and fibre roll-outs.
  • Data centre installation work.
  • Smart building systems.

Written by a human, from the ILO's task ratings below. Yes, we see the irony. Read it as one person's take.

Meet your two rivals

They're not the same machine. AI software can only reach the parts of a job done on a screen or in words. A chatbot can't climb a ladder. A robot might, one day, if it doesn't fall off.

The AI

Lives in a screen. Never had to fix a boiler.

Threat level: Medium

39 could do without you

It could take over some of the work, and help with more. It could help with 64 of 100.

The robot

The wildcard. Has hands, still working out stairs.

How much it matters here: Higher

65 how hands-on

Most of this job needs hands, a body or turning up. That's robot territory, and nobody measures how far robots have got well enough to give you a number. We won't make one up.

So could a robot do the physical part?

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.

Robots hate fiddly work in awkward spaces. On that measure, this job scores 49 out of 100. The higher it is, the longer the robot waits.

65 How
hands-on
49 How fiddly
and cramped

Kind of hands-on work Hands-on, fiddly work in tight spaces

The small print

They aren't a robot score, and nothing on this page is. Nobody measures how far robots have got well enough to put a number on it. These are the closest thing we have: how hands-on the job is, and how much fiddly, cramped work it takes, which is what Frey and Osborne found hardest for machines.

From O*NET, averaged across 7 US jobs , so treat it as rough.

finger skill 48.2 · hand skill 43.9 · cramped spaces 54 · averaged · rule: hands-on 50+ · fiddly 39.4+

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 0.8-observed-use measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

The job, task by task

Every job is really a bundle of tasks. Here's this one unpacked, with how much of each AI could do, out of 100. The score is the average, and averages can hide a lot.

AI's favourite task here scores 51, against an average of 24. The bigger the gap, the more lopsided the job: some of it wide open to AI, some of it barely touched.

  1. 51

    Providing technical advice and information, and monitoring the performance of complex telecommunications networks and equipment

    Medium
  2. 30

    Maintaining, troubleshooting, testing and repairing computers, data transmission equipment and computer peripherals

    Low
  3. 30

    Installing, maintaining, repairing and diagnosing malfunctions of microwave, telemetry, multiplexing, satellite and other radio and electromagnetic wave communications systems

    Low
  4. 16

    Fitting and adjusting computer hardware

    Very Low
  5. 14

    Installing and repairing cabling for computer, radio, telephone and television transmission

    Very Low
  6. 14

    Installing, maintaining and repairing antennae used in communications.

    Very Low
  7. 13

    Joining telecommunications and data cables, and sealing sheathes

    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 0.8-observed-use

Sidekick or replacement?

A tool that makes you faster is a very different thing from one that does the task while you watch. Jobs and Skills Australia measured the two separately, which is handy.

AI helps you
64
AI does it for you
39

Sidekick wins, by 25 points.

How good a match is this?

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

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.8-observed-use matched to Australian jobs 3131, 3424

Meanwhile, in real life…

Everything else here is about what AI could do. This is what people actually did. When they asked Claude for help with this kind of work, did they hand the whole task over, or roll their sleeves up and work through it together?

Tiny sample alert This job makes up 0.01% of all the conversations: a tiny slice, mostly the paperwork rather than the work. People using AI for a job isn't the same as AI being able to do it.

Out of every 100 conversations

50
50

worked through it together handed it over

The small print

Anthropic publishes this about its own product, and it doesn't feed into any score here. These are people who use Claude, not workers in general, so little use here doesn't mean AI can't reach the job.

These two add up to 100. The bars elsewhere on the page don't, because each is scored on its own, so we don't put them side by side.

observed use Anthropic Economic Index release 2026-06-26, period beginning 2026-05-01 data 0.8-observed-use 2026-05-01 · Anthropic, about its own product

So, should telecoms and IT installers be worried?

Short answer: not much. Some of the chores will change, and good riddance.

Some of it is changing. Advising and monitoring networks is rated Medium, and troubleshooting computers and radio systems is Low; fitting hardware, cabling and antennas rate Very Low. Remote monitoring and diagnostics take on more, so field work leans towards installation and physical repairs.

Worth remembering: we score tasks, not jobs. When AI takes on a task, the job usually reshuffles around it rather than vanishing.

Where this job could lead

None of the new jobs we've written up start from here yet. Could be you're the first. See the jobs AI is creating →

How are the neighbours doing?

There are 65 jobs in the “Craft and related trades workers” family, averaging 84. This one is below the family average.

Pit this against any other job →