The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Comparison

Construction Laborers vs Tapers

Construction Laborers carries the higher exposed share at 5.1% against 3.0%, a gap of 2.1 points. The difference is driven by both capability and friction: the two jobs differ in what a system can produce and in what stops it, by roughly the same amount. Release v2026.Q3.

OccupationExposedAssistedUntouchedCapabilityFrictionMedian payRankBand
Construction Laborers5.1%3.4%91.5%0.090.38$47,120871untouched
Tapers3.0%2.8%94.2%0.060.35$68,270894untouched

What stands in the way, in each

Construction Laborers: the dominant friction is that the work happens to physical things in physical places. Capability sits at 0.09 of 1 and friction at 0.38 of 1.

Tapers: the dominant friction is that the work happens to physical things in physical places. Capability sits at 0.06 of 1 and friction at 0.35 of 1.

Capability asks whether a generally available system can produce the work product at all. Friction asks what stops it finishing the job: physical work, being present, being accountable, unseen context, or the cost of checking the output. The rubric is here.

Read each in full

Exposure is not displacement. A higher score does not rank two jobs by how safe they are, and nothing here models adoption, employment or pay.