Help painters, paperhangers, plasterers, or stucco masons by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
U.S. Workers
7,220
Median Salary
$38,140
10-Year Growth
+2.3%
Annual Openings
800
Typical entry: No formal educational credential
11 of 11 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Mix plaster, and carry plaster to plasterers.
AI: Fully automatable - Plaster-mixing is readily automated with mixers and pumps and autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles can transport materials, making this task largely automatable by 2025.
Supply or hold tools and materials.
AI: Fully automatable - Autonomous mobile robots and collaborative arms can reliably deliver and hold tools/materials in many work settings, so this support function is largely automatable by 2025.
Pour specified amounts of chemical solutions into stripping tanks.
AI: Fully automatable - Pouring specified amounts of chemical solutions is a repetitive, measurable task that can be fully automated with sensors, pumps, and AI process control systems available by 2025.
Clean work areas and equipment.
AI: Partial - Autonomous vacuums and industrial cleaning robots handle many routine tasks, yet irregular construction sites and specialized equipment-cleaning still require human adaptability.
Perform support duties to assist painters, paperhangers, plasterers, or masons.
AI: Partial - Some support duties (material handling, mixing) can be automated, but the broad, ad-hoc assistance painters and masons need still depends on human judgment and flexibility.
Apply protective coverings, such as masking tape, to articles or areas that could be damaged or stained by work processes.
AI: Partial - Robotic masking exists in manufacturing for repeatable geometries, but applying protective coverings in varied field conditions and complex shapes is not fully automatable yet.
Smooth surfaces of articles to be painted, using sanding and buffing tools and equipment.
AI: Partial - Automated sanding/buffing works well in controlled production environments, but variable surfaces and access constraints on job sites limit full automation.
Erect scaffolding.
AI: Partial - Mechanized aids and modular systems can assist, but full autonomous scaffolding erection in diverse, unstructured job sites remains beyond mainstream capability by 2025.
Fill cracks or breaks in surfaces of plaster articles or areas with putty or epoxy compounds.
AI: Partial - Automated caulking and dispensing systems can fill predictable joints, but identifying and repairing varied cracks in plaster reliably across sites still needs human skill.
Place articles to be stripped into stripping tanks.
AI: Partial - Placing articles into stripping tanks is a physical, varied pick-and-place task that AI can assist with via robotics in controlled settings but not fully automate across the range of real-world environments in 2025.
Remove articles such as cabinets, metal furniture, and paint containers from stripping tanks after prescribed periods of time.
AI: Partial - Removing varied items from stripping tanks on a timed schedule can be automated in specialized industrial lines, but general-purpose, reliable fully autonomous handling of diverse, heavy items remains only partially automatable by 2025.