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Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
Production · SOC 51-9123
0.0% AI Exposure — Low
$41,600
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
1,400
Proj. Annual Openings
7,940
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-7.2%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
100/100
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 51-9123 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
- SOC exposure
- 0.0%
- Low · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 43/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $41,600
- No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
- Projected openings
- 1,400
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +1.4%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- —
- FY— certified LCAs; 1,403 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
Active ListeningMonitoringSocial PerceptivenessCoordinationReading Comprehension
Transition context
- 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.
AI Exposure Analysis
AI Exposure0.0%
AI Resiliency100/100
Exposure BandLow
Sector Avg. Exposure0.7%
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
13.5%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic0%
AI capability · OpenAI0%
AI ability · AIOE40.5%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne92%
Top Skills
1.Active Listening
2.Monitoring
3.Social Perceptiveness
4.Coordination
5.Reading Comprehension
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
Paint, coat, or decorate articles, such as furniture, glass, plateware, pottery, jewelry, toys, books, or leather.
Common titles: Decaler, Decorator, Glass Decorator, Glazer, In Mold Coater, Painter
Representative Tasks
- •Apply coatings, such as paint, ink, or lacquer, to protect or decorate workpiece surfaces, using spray guns, pens, or brushes.
- •Examine finished surfaces of workpieces to verify conformance to specifications and retouch any defective areas.
- •Clean and maintain tools and equipment, using solvents, brushes, and rags.
- •Read job orders and inspect workpieces to determine work procedures and materials required.
- •Select and mix ingredients to prepare coating substances according to specifications, using paddles or mechanical mixers.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.
- •Inspect finishes of workpieces or finished products.
- •Operate painting or coating equipment.
- •Mix ingredients to create specific finishes.
- •Select production input materials.
Tools & Technologies
Adobe Illustrator · hotAdobe Photoshop · hotMicrosoft Excel · hotAdobe FreeHand MXCorel WordPerfect Office Suite
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 51-9123: 2019 — employment: 12,430, median wage: $32,950; 2020 — employment: 11,860, median wage: $34,780; 2021 — employment: 11,850, median wage: $37,330; 2022 — employment: 11,990, median wage: $38,270; 2023 — employment: 10,700, median wage: $40,230; 2025 — employment: 7,940, median wage: $41,600.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 0.0% | 0.7% |
| Outlook | Average | 4% Bright |
| Median Salary | $41,600 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 100/100 | N/A |