Robotics workforce
Assemblers and fabricators: 1,799,500 jobs, just 1% growth to 2035
1,799,500. That's how many assembler and fabricator jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted in 2025. The median pay was $45,450 a year.
The BLS projects just 1% growth from 2025 to 2035, slower than the average for all occupations, and it says why. Improved processes, tools and automation will reduce job growth in most manufacturing industries, and assemblers working alongside collaborative robots may reduce demand for some of them.
Low growth isn't the same as few jobs. Because so many people hold these roles, the BLS still expects about 177,500 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who move on or retire. This page traces each figure to the Handbook.
Data covers BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook; wages May 2025 and projections 2025 to 2035. Published 2026-10-16. Last reviewed 2026-10-16. Last updated 2026-10-16. Edited by Mike Ramsey / Reliable Media.
The figures and where they come from
Each figure is rated for how safely you can cite it today. Ratings judge current usability, not whether a number was ever correct.
| Figure | What it is | Source | Citation Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,799,500 jobs | Employment level (2025) | [A] | High | All assemblers and fabricators, a group of occupations from team assemblers to electrical and electronic equipment assemblers. |
| $45,450 | Median annual wage (May 2025) | [A] | High | Half the occupation earned more and half less. |
| $21.85 | Median hourly wage | [A] | High | The hourly equivalent of the median. |
| $34,020 | Lowest 10% earned less than | [A] | High | The bottom decile in May 2025. |
| $67,440 | Highest 10% earned more than | [A] | High | The top decile in May 2025. |
| +1% | Projected employment growth, 2025 to 2035 | [A] | Medium | Slower than the average for all occupations. A projection, revised with each edition. |
| +16,700 jobs | Projected employment change, 2025 to 2035 | [A] | Medium | The net gain over the whole decade, a total across ten years. |
| about 177,500 | Openings projected each year | [A] | Medium | An annual average over 2025 to 2035, mostly replacement openings. |
| Processes, tools and automation | Why growth is low, per BLS | [A] | High | The Handbook's own explanation of the outlook. |
| May reduce demand for some | Collaborative robots, per BLS | [A] | High | The BLS says this collaborative robotics work may reduce demand for some assemblers and fabricators. |
Why the numbers disagree
Growth and openings answer different questions. The 1% projection is the net change in the number of jobs over a decade, about 16,700. The 177,500 openings are a yearly average that mostly replaces people leaving the occupation. Both can be true at once.
This is a family of occupations. The Handbook groups team assemblers, electrical and electronic equipment assemblers and several other assembly occupations, and the BLS notes that projected employment varies by occupation inside the group. The 1% is the combined figure.
The automation link is the BLS's own reasoning. The Handbook says improved processes, tools and automation will reduce job growth and that working alongside collaborative robots may reduce demand for some assemblers. It doesn't estimate how many jobs robots account for.
How to cite these figures
Cite it as BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: 1,799,500 assembler and fabricator jobs in 2025, a $45,450 median wage in May 2025, and 1% projected growth from 2025 to 2035.
Keep the two outlook numbers in their units: 16,700 is a ten-year net change, and 177,500 is openings per year.
If you use the robotics wording, quote the BLS directly and keep its "may". The Handbook names automation as a reason for slow growth; it doesn't give a robot-specific job count.
Where people go wrong
Reading 177,500 openings a year as job growth. Most are replacement openings; net growth is about 16,700 over the whole decade.
Saying the BLS projects robots will eliminate assembly jobs. It projects 1% growth and says automation will reduce job growth.
Treating the $45,450 median as the pay for every assembly role. The bottom 10% earned under $34,020 and the top 10% over $67,440.
How we checked
We matched each figure in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook entry for assemblers and fabricators: the Quick Facts table, the pay section with its deciles, the job outlook paragraph and the projections table.
Measured figures, the 2025 employment count and May 2025 wages, rate High. The 2025 to 2035 projections rate Medium because the BLS revises them each edition.
Full source list
Primary sources, with live links. Every figure above traces to one of these.
- [A]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2025
Assemblers and Fabricators, Occupational Outlook Handbook
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/assemblers-and-fabricators.htm
Common questions
- How many assemblers and fabricators work in the US?
- 1,799,500 jobs in 2025, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- What do assemblers and fabricators earn?
- A median of $45,450 a year, or $21.85 an hour, in May 2025. The lowest 10% earned less than $34,020 and the highest 10% more than $67,440.
- Are robots replacing assembly jobs?
- The BLS projects 1% growth from 2025 to 2035 and says improved processes, tools and automation will reduce job growth. It adds that working alongside collaborative robots may reduce demand for some assemblers and fabricators.
- How many assembler openings are expected each year?
- About 177,500 a year on average from 2025 to 2035, mostly to replace workers who change occupations or retire.
More data, traced to source
- Will automation wipe out factory jobs? BLS projects a 1% decline
Against the automation-apocalypse narrative, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects US production jobs to decline just 1.0% over its latest 10-year horizon, while total employment grows 4.0%. The official projection, traced to source.
- Cobots are about 10% of robot installations, not the majority
Collaborative robots get outsized attention, yet they were 10.5% of the industrial robots installed worldwide in the latest IFR count. Cobots are a tenth of the market, well short of the future-is-here majority the coverage implies.
- Metal and plastic machine workers: 963,000 jobs, projected to fall 7%
The BLS projects metal and plastic machine worker jobs to fall 7% from 2025 to 2035, a loss of 63,000 from 963,000. It expects CNC and robot use to cut demand for manual operators while demand for CNC programmers stays strong.
- The jobs forecast almost nobody quotes in full: 170m up, 92m down
Employers surveyed by the World Economic Forum expect technology and four other forces to create 170 million jobs and destroy 92 million by 2030. The number that matters is the one in between, and it is the one that goes missing in the retelling.