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Elementary occupations · code 9613

Sweepers and related labourers

AI can tell the council where the litter is. Sweeping it up is still hands-on.

AI barely touches any of the four tasks: sweeping streets and public places, clearing leaves and snow, shovelling snow and beating carpets.

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

Sweepers and related labourers sweep and clean streets, parks, airports, stations and other public places. Tasks include - (a) sweeping streets, parks, airports, stations and similar public places; (b) shovelling snow; (c) beating dust out of carpets by using a carpet-beater; (d) cleaning rubbish, leaves and snow from driveways and grounds. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Park sweeper - Street sweeper

  • street sweeper

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

91 / 100

Strongly holds up against AI

Most of this job still needs an actual human. AI would mostly be making the tea.

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

12 of 427 for holding up against AI

Why this score?

The ILO rated each of this job's 4 tasks for how much of it AI could do. They average 9.4 out of 100, so it holds up at 100 − 9.4 = 90.6.

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 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?

Sweepers and related labourers 91

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.

  • Planning routes from reports and sensors.
  • Logging work done and problems found.
  • Reporting damage and hazards from a phone.

Man

What people still do better

Judgement, trust and skilled hands. Hard to download.

  • Clearing the awkward places machines can't reach.
  • Working safely around traffic and the public.
  • Spotting hazards and dealing with them straight away.

Both

What's arriving

New work that only exists because the AI does.

  • Operating small electric and self-driving sweepers.
  • Responding to real-time reports from residents' apps.
  • More waste separation in public spaces.

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: Low

15 could do without you

It could take over very little of the work on its own. It could help with 44 of 100.

The robot

The wildcard. Has hands, still working out stairs.

– how hands-on

We don't have a hands-on measure for this job.

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 13, against an average of 9. The bigger the gap, the more lopsided the job: some of it wide open to AI, some of it barely touched.

  1. 13

    Cleaning rubbish, leaves and snow from driveways and grounds.

    Very Low
  2. 11

    Sweeping streets, parks, airports, stations and similar public places

    Very Low
  3. 9

    Beating dust out of carpets by using a carpet-beater

    Very Low
  4. 6

    Shovelling snow

    Very Low

4 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
44
AI does it for you
15

Sidekick wins, by 29 points.

How good a match is this?

One Australian job matches this one closely, so this is about as reliable as it gets here.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.8-observed-use matched to Australian jobs 8116

So, should street sweepers be worried?

Short answer: not really. Put the kettle on.

Not really. Every task, from sweeping streets to clearing snow, rates Very Low. Sweeping machines already do big open areas; corners, steps and crowded places are still done by people.

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 33 jobs in the “Elementary occupations” family, averaging 85. This one is above the family average.

Pit this against any other job →