Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 0% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 100% of the time, stays with people.
Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools. Align forms for sidewalks, curbs, or gutters; patch voids; and use saws to cut expansion joints.
206,170 people do this job in the US. $57,020 a year.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people40 h
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 40 hours stay with people.
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 0%
- 0%
- 0%
- 7%
- 93%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 0% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 26 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.028% to 0.014% (released February and March 2025); 0.0096% to 0.0081% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.028% | 379 of 708 | 1 of 26 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.014% | 466 of 703 | 1 of 26 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0096% | 460 of 655 | 1 of 26 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0097% | 482 of 672 | 1 of 26 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0081% | 523 of 677 | 1 of 26 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 26 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 26 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 96% of this job's working time as physical work. For 94% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 86% in a purpose-built cell, 9% in a structured facility. 1.03 of 3, the 105th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 4%
- No robot shown 1%
- In a purpose-built cell 86%
- In a structured facility 9%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
100% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Spread and finish concrete, the hands-on work, 19%
- Grind down high spots, the hands-on work, 9%
- Set and align forms, the hands-on work, 8%
- Direct the pour crew, the in-person work, 7%
- Cast beams, columns and panels, the hands-on work, 6%
- Watch the cure, the hands-on work, 6%
What becomes checking the machine
No desk work within reach by then in tasks where a mistake costs something.
What to learn
- The hands-on craft. About 93% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 26 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spread, level, and smooth concrete, using rake, shovel, hand or power trowel, hand or power screed, and float.Screed, float and trowel by hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, UniControl/UniCAM automated pallet-circulation precast plant (concrete spreaders, smoothing stations) (Unitechnik Systems) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 19% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Chip, scrape, and grind high spots, ridges, and rough projections to finish concrete, using pneumatic chisels, power grinders, or hand tools.Chisels and grinders by hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Scan + Grind system (ABB robot + FerRobotics AAK 617 Concrete) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Set the forms that hold concrete to the desired pitch and depth, and align them.By hand with level and line.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Progress Group Form Master shuttering/deshuttering/storage robot (ebos control) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Direct the casting of the concrete and supervise laborers who use shovels or special tools to spread it.Leading the laborers on the pour.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Fabricate concrete beams, columns, and panels.Forming and pouring by hand.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Elematic EDGE Wall production line (plotter, Shuttering Robot E9, casting machine, compaction station) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1 work day | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Monitor how the wind, heat, or cold affect the curing of the concrete throughout the entire process.Watching the slab and the weather through the pour.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Kraft AutoCure® (with VaporWare V2 data recording, Match-Cure) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Wet surface to prepare for bonding, fill holes and cracks with grout or slurry, and smooth, using trowel.Grout and trowel by hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Screw Hole Plugging Robot (螺杆洞封堵机器人) (Guangdong Bright Dream Robotics) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 42 min17 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Cut metal division strips, and press them into terrazzo base so that top edges form desired design or pattern.By hand.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Form Master shuttering & deshuttering robot (Progress Maschinen & Automation) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Mold expansion joints and edges, using edging tools, jointers, and straightedge.Edging tools by hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Huffcutt precast wall panel plant shuttering robot (carousel line, ebos control) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Produce rough concrete surface, using broom.By hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Vollert SMART CAST automatic concrete distributor with built-in roughening device (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Polish surface, using polishing or surfacing machine.Running the polisher.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Basement glazing (concrete floor troweling) robot (Bright Dream Robotics / Guangdong Bojiatuo Construction Technology Co., Ltd.) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Check the forms that hold the concrete to see that they are properly constructed.Looking the forms over.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ZEISS AICell trace with AIMax cloud sensor (Carl Zeiss Industrial Quality Solutions) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 0% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 0% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers come within reach first?
- No task has a meaningful share of its time within reach now or by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five: the work is mostly people work and body work, which the site does not count.
- Which tasks of Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Spread and finish concrete; Grind down high spots; and Set and align forms. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are the hands-on craft; and judgment where errors are severe. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 100% of the working time stays with people, 0% becomes checking a model's work and 0% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 96% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 94% of the working time, 9% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.03 of 3. One example: Concrete Interior Wall Polishing Robot / Concrete Ceiling Polishing Robot for "rub the surface smooth". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 26 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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