Sheet Metal Workers
Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.
119,770 people do this job in the US. $61,800 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 18%
- 0%
- 82%
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, 8%. Today's estimate: 11%.
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 . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabricate or alter parts at construction sites, using shears, hammers, punches, or drills.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 16% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Fabricate ducts for high efficiency heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to maximize efficiency of systems.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 15% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Maintain equipment, making repairs or modifications when necessary.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Convert blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction or assembly of sheet metal products.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | 33%Half by Nov 2026 | |
| Install assemblies, such as flashing, pipes, tubes, heating and air conditioning ducts, furnace casings, rain gutters, or downspouts in supportive frameworks.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine project requirements, such as scope, assembly sequences, or required methods or materials, using blueprints, drawings, or written or verbal instructions.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | 91%Half by now | |
| Perform building commissioning activities by completing mechanical inspections of a building's water, lighting, or heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Inspect individual parts, assemblies, or installations, using measuring instruments, such as calipers, scales, or micrometers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Fasten seams or joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, or bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min13 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Transport prefabricated parts to construction sites for assembly and installation.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Verify that heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are designed, installed, and calibrated in accordance with green certification standards, such as those of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Lay out, measure, and mark dimensions and reference lines on material, such as roofing panels, using calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, or rulers.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 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.
- Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters5% now, 5% by 2028
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers4% now, 4% by 2028
- Structural Iron and Steel Workers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic10% now, 13% by 2028
- Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers8% now, 8% by 2028
- Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall2% now, 2% 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).