Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand vs Crane and Tower Operators
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand carries the higher exposed share at 16.4% against 12.0%, a gap of 4.5 points. The difference is driven by friction: the work is similarly producible in both, and what differs is what stands in the way of letting a machine finish it. Release v2026.Q3.
| Occupation | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Capability | Friction | Median pay | Rank | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 16.4% | 7.0% | 76.6% | 0.23 | 0.31 | $40,240 | 672 | untouched |
| Crane and Tower Operators | 12.0% | 8.7% | 79.3% | 0.21 | 0.45 | $68,080 | 755 | untouched |
What stands in the way, in each
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand: the dominant friction is that the work happens to physical things in physical places. Capability sits at 0.23 of 1 and friction at 0.31 of 1.
Crane and Tower Operators: the dominant friction is that the work happens to physical things in physical places. Capability sits at 0.21 of 1 and friction at 0.45 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.