AI Career Radar

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.

AI exposure43 / 100Moderate exposure

Based on O*NET work context for this occupation. This score does not predict individual job losses.

What drives the score

Automation and repetition raise exposure; freedom to set tasks lowers it. Each measure uses a 0–100 scale.

Degree of automation43
Freedom to set tasks70
Repeating the same tasks57
$61,800Median annual wage, U.S.BLS OEWS
+2.5%Jobs, 2025 to 2035 (about average)BLS Employment Projections
54Skill durability (fragile)Transferability, out of 100

How well your skills transfer

Each skill is scored on how well it transfers into occupations that are growing and less exposed. The ones high on both importance and transfer are worth deepening.

Highest transferability first

Both scores out of 100

Skills ranked by transferability. Both scores use a 0–100 scale.
SkillTransferabilityImportance in current role
Critical Thinking
63
53
Monitoring
63
53
Active Listening
63
50
Speaking
63
50
Judgment and Decision Making
63
50
Coordination
62
53
Active Learning
62
47
Complex Problem Solving
62
47
Reading Comprehension
61
53
Time Management
61
50
Show 25 more skills
Skills ranked by transferability. Both scores use a 0–100 scale.
SkillTransferabilityImportance in current role
Social Perceptiveness
60
38
Writing
60
31
Instructing
58
47
Learning Strategies
58
38
Systems Analysis
57
35
Service Orientation
56
31
Systems Evaluation
56
31
Persuasion
54
28
Mathematics
53
50
Negotiation
52
28
Science
52
16
Management of Personnel Resources
50
41
Operations Analysis
49
28
Installation
48
41
Equipment Maintenance
47
47
Troubleshooting
47
47
Quality Control Analysis
47
44
Equipment Selection
47
41
Technology Design
47
19
Management of Material Resources
47
19
Management of Financial Resources
47
13
Operations Monitoring
46
47
Repairing
46
47
Programming
45
9
Operation and Control
43
47

Compare how well you can use each skill in growing, low-exposure occupations with its importance in your current role. How we score skills.

Jobs you could move to

Compare related occupations by skill overlap, retraining effort, pay and projected growth. Choose a priority to adjust the ranking. Licensing requirements may limit some routes.

85/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$120,230
10-yr growth
+34.6%
Skill gap
25%
Retraining
Moderate

Skills to build: Writing, Active Learning, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening

81/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$135,880
10-yr growth
+21.1%
Skill gap
21%
Retraining
Moderate

Skills to build: Active Listening, Writing, Monitoring, Service Orientation

81/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$53,140
10-yr growth
+36.5%
Skill gap
10%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Installation, Quality Control Analysis, Operations Monitoring, Active Listening

81/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$95,320
10-yr growth
+10.3%
Skill gap
12%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Systems Analysis, Troubleshooting, Active Listening, Installation

80/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$129,180
10-yr growth
+21%
Skill gap
22%
Retraining
Moderate

Skills to build: Writing, Systems Analysis, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving

#6Dental HygienistsHealthcare
79/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$98,100
10-yr growth
+8%
Skill gap
13%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Writing, Persuasion, Service Orientation, Active Listening

A second source of income, before you need it

This page can tell you where Sheet Metal Workers could go and what the move costs. The other route is not a move at all: something small of your own, running alongside the job, started while there is no pressure on it.

Where to learn the missing half: Google Career Certificates for systems analysis · active learning, LinkedIn Learning for writing · speaking, edX for mathematics · reading and PlanetNoCode for complex problem solving. Some of those are affiliate links. It never changes what we list.

Snapshot: O*NET 31.0, BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035. Scoring v2.1.0-onet-31.0. Method on the how it works page.