Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons
Build or repair equipment such as furnaces, kilns, cupolas, boilers, converters, ladles, soaking pits, and ovens, using refractory materials.
1,080 people do this job in the US. $61,290 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 10 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climb scaffolding, carrying hoses, and spray surfaces of cupolas with refractory mixtures, using spray equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 32% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 7.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Reline or repair ladles and pouring spouts with refractory clay, using trowels.Done daily by most who do it. | 21% | 2.1 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Chip slag from linings of ladles or remove linings when beyond repair, using hammers and chisels.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 1.3 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Dry and bake new linings by placing inverted linings over burners, building fires in ladles, or by using blowtorches.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 2.5 h50 min to 5.8 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove worn or damaged plastic block refractory linings of furnaces, using hand tools.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Measure furnace walls to determine dimensions and cut required number of sheets from plastic block, using saws.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Mix specified amounts of sand, clay, mortar powder, and water to form refractory clay or mortar, using shovels or mixing machines.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Spread mortar on stopper heads and rods, using trowels, and slide brick sleeves over rods to form refractory jackets.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Dump and tamp clay in molds, using tamping tools.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 0.9% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Transfer clay structures to curing ovens, melting tanks, and drawing kilns, using forklifts.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 0.5% | 33 min13 min to 50 min | 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.
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.
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons12% now, 13% by 2028
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic0% now, 0% by 2028
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters6% now, 6% by 2028
- Foundry Mold and Coremakers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic20% now, 20% by 2028
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).