Riggers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 7% 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 people and hands-on work, about 93% of the time, stays with people.
Set up or repair rigging for construction projects, manufacturing plants, logging yards, ships and shipyards, or for the entertainment industry.
22,530 people do this job in the US. $62,640 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on3 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people37 h
Riggers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 37 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Select gear, such as cables, pulleys, and winches, according to load weights and sizes, facilities, and work schedules (about 3 h).
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.
- 7%
- 0%
- 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.
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, 6%. Today's estimate: 7%.
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
None of this job's 14 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
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 80% of this job's working time as physical work. For 57% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 57% in a purpose-built cell. 0.57 of 3, the 289th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 20%
- No robot shown 23%
- In a purpose-built cell 57%
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Align, level, and anchor machinery.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Dürr Flex Bolt / Flex decking marriage station (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Tilt, dip, and turn suspended loads to maneuver over, under, or around obstacles, using multi-point suspension techniques.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Obayashi Robotics Crane Integrated System (ORCISM), with SkyJuster load-orientation device (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.3 h17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Control movement of heavy equipment through narrow openings or confined spaces, using chainfalls, gin poles, gallows frames, and other equipment.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Morgan Automation fully automated coil-yard cranes (Cephas + Siemens drives/PLC) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Fabricate, set up, and repair rigging, supporting structures, hoists, and pulling gear, using hand and power tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Attach loads to rigging to provide support or prepare them for moving, using hand and power tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KASTO UNICOMPACT 5.0 automated steel storage with magnet bridge crane (Steel and Pipe Supply, Kansas City) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Dismantle and store rigging equipment after use.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Test rigging to ensure safety and reliability.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Manipulate rigging lines, hoists, and pulling gear to move or support materials, such as heavy equipment, ships, or theatrical sets.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Exter horizontal telescopic crane (Shimz Smart Site) (Shimizu Corporation) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Select gear, such as cables, pulleys, and winches, according to load weights and sizes, facilities, and work schedules.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Attach pulleys and blocks to fixed overhead structures, such as beams, ceilings, and gin pole booms, using bolts and clamps.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Zeman SBA (Steel Beam Assembler) robotic assembly/welding line at Prospect Steel (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Load machines onto trucks to prepare for transportation.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Actiw LoadMatic (Automated Truck Loading System) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Signal or verbally direct workers engaged in hoisting and moving loads to ensure safety of workers and materials.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | 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.
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Crane and Tower Operators8% now, 8% by 2028
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines6% now, 6% by 2028
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators1% now, 1% by 2028
- Millwrights0% now, 0% by 2028
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers4% now, 4% 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).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Riggers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 7% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 7% 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 Riggers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Select gear, such as cables, pulleys, and winches, according to load weights and sizes, facilities, and work schedules (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Riggers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Align, level, and anchor machinery; Tilt, dip, and turn suspended loads to maneuver over, under, or around obstacles, using multi-point suspension techniques; and Control movement of heavy equipment through narrow openings or confined spaces, using chainfalls, gin poles, gallows frames, and other equipment. Together such tasks are about 93% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Riggers?
- 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 Riggers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 80% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 57% of the working time. Its index is 0.57 of 3. One example: Dürr Flex Bolt / Flex decking marriage station for "align, level, and anchor machinery". 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 14 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, 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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