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Industrial Engineers

Architecture and Engineering · SOC 17-2112

3.7% AI Exposure — Medium
$102,440
Median Annual Salary
Bright ↗
O*NET Outlook
22,600
Proj. Annual Openings
365,740
Employment (OEWS 2025)
+3.8%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
96/100
AI Resiliency Score

AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.

Decision card

Career Evidence Passport

SOC 17-2112 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
3.7%
Medium · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
49/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$102,440
H-1B offered wage $105,393; LCAs are filings.
Projected openings
22,600
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +11.0%.
Observed/proxy demand
10,151
FY2025 certified LCAs; 52,467 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Reading ComprehensionReading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical ThinkingReading Comprehension
  • H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
  • Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
  • Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
  • This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.

Best transitions from here

Explore all pathways

Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure3.7%
AI Resiliency96/100
Exposure BandMedium
Sector Avg. Exposure4.5%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

49.9%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic3.7%
AI capability · OpenAI55.4%
AI ability · AIOE90.7%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne2.9%

AI could do ~55.4% of this role but only ~3.7% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.

Top Skills

1.Reading Comprehension
2.Reading Comprehension
3.Active Listening
4.Critical Thinking
5.Reading Comprehension

H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand

View full H-1B trends →

Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.

56,124
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
10,151
FY2025 Volume
2% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$105,393
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#18 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

Design, develop, test, and evaluate integrated systems for managing industrial production processes, including human work factors, quality control, inventory control, logistics and material flow, cost analysis, and production coordination.

Common titles: Continuous Improvement Engineer, Engineer, Facilities Engineer, Industrial Engineer, Operations Engineer, Plant Engineer

Representative Tasks

  • Estimate production costs, cost saving methods, and the effects of product design changes on expenditures for management review, action, and control.
  • Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.
  • Analyze statistical data and product specifications to determine standards and establish quality and reliability objectives of finished product.
  • Confer with clients, vendors, staff, and management personnel regarding purchases, product and production specifications, manufacturing capabilities, or project status.
  • Communicate with management and user personnel to develop production and design standards.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Estimate operational costs.
  • Determine operational methods.
  • Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans.
  • Analyze project data to determine specifications or requirements.
  • Communicate technical information to suppliers, contractors, or regulatory agencies.

Tools & Technologies

Autodesk AutoCAD · hotMicrosoft PowerPoint · hotBentley MicroStation · hotDassault Systemes SolidWorks · hotMicrosoft Visual Basic · hotMicrosoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA · hotMicrosoft Visual Studio · hotThe MathWorks MATLAB · hotAllen Bradley PanelViewDassault Systemes CATIA

Employment Projections & AI Exposure

15
Occupations Shown
4.5%
Avg AI Exposure
2
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.

Employment & Wage Trend

BLS OEWS, 2019–2025


Occupation Employment & Wage TrendMulti-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 17-2112: 2019 — employment: 291,710, median wage: $88,020; 2020 — employment: 290,190, median wage: $88,950; 2021 — employment: 293,950, median wage: $95,300; 2022 — employment: 321,400, median wage: $96,350; 2023 — employment: 332,870, median wage: $99,380; 2025 — employment: 365,740, median wage: $102,440.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure3.7%4.5%
OutlookBright ↗15% Bright
Median Salary$102,440N/A
AI Resiliency96/100N/A