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Patternmakers, Wood
Production · SOC 51-7032
3.0% AI Exposure — Medium
$49,630
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
200
Proj. Annual Openings
220
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-8.3%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
97/100
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 51-7032 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
- SOC exposure
- 3.0%
- Medium · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 59/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $49,630
- No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
- Projected openings
- 200
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change -5.0%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- —
- FY— certified LCAs; 196 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
Reading ComprehensionMonitoringComplex Problem SolvingOperations MonitoringOperation and Control
- 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.
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AI Exposure Analysis
AI Exposure3.0%
AI Resiliency97/100
Exposure BandMedium
Sector Avg. Exposure0.7%
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
22.3%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic3%
AI capability · OpenAI25.6%
AI ability · AIOE38.4%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne91%
AI could do ~25.6% of this role but only ~3% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.
Top Skills
1.Reading Comprehension
2.Monitoring
3.Complex Problem Solving
4.Operations Monitoring
5.Operation and Control
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →No H-1B certified LCA filings recorded for this occupation in FY2016–FY2025.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
Plan, lay out, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.
Common titles: Mold Maker, Pattern Engineer, Pattern Maker, Patternmaker, Wood Pattern Maker, Wood Patternmaker
Representative Tasks
- •Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.
- •Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, and screws.
- •Lay out patterns on wood stock and draw outlines of units, sectional patterns, or full-scale mock-ups of products, based on blueprint specifications and sketches, and using marking and measuring devices.
- •Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.
- •Divide patterns into sections according to shapes of castings to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Study blueprints or other instructions to determine equipment setup requirements.
- •Assemble wood products.
- •Draw guide lines or markings on materials or workpieces using patterns or other references.
- •Shape surfaces or edges of wood workpieces.
- •Trim excess material from workpieces.
Tools & Technologies
Autodesk AutoCAD · hotMicrosoft Excel · hotMicrosoft Office software · hotMicrosoft Outlook · hot3D Systems Geomagic Design XDelcam PowerMILLMastercam computer-aided design and manufacturing software
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
15
Occupations Shown
0.5%
Avg AI Exposure
1
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
Multi-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 51-7032: 2019 — employment: 370, median wage: $64,880; 2020 — employment: 190, median wage: $65,120; 2021 — employment: 210, median wage: $46,920; 2022 — employment: 330, median wage: $44,290; 2023 — employment: 260, median wage: $48,630; 2025 — employment: 220, median wage: $49,630.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 3.0% | 0.7% |
| Outlook | Average | 4% Bright |
| Median Salary | $49,630 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 97/100 | N/A |