Precision-instrument makers and repairers
In the ILO's assessment few of the job's tasks can be done by generative AI, or the scores are too spread out to reach gradient 1 — generative AI does not meaningfully take over the core of the work.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Testing timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments32
- Testing accuracy of meters, gauges, indicators or other recording or controlling instruments to locate defective components and for conformance to standards30
- Testing, calibrating and adjusting electronic, mercurial, aneroid and other types of meteorological instruments for compliance with printed specifications and schematic diagrams, using voltmeters, oscilloscopes, tube testers, and other test instruments30
- Checking whether assembled units conform to specifications and ensuring stipulated performance and sensitivity by standard tests.28
- Calibrating instruments or scales, using hand tools and computer or electronic devices26
- Adjusting timing regulators, using calipers, watch-rate recorders and tweezers21
- Inspecting components, connections and drive mechanisms to detect defects20
- Assembling instruments and devices such as barometers, control valves, gyroscopes, hygrometers, speedometers, tachometers and thermostats14
- Repairing, cleaning and adjusting mechanisms of timing instruments such as watches and clocks14
- Repairing and setting optical instruments such as microscopes, telescopes, theodolites and sextants14
- Adjusting and repairing masts, supporting structures, clearance lights, control panels, control cabling and wiring, and other electrical and mechanical devices14
- Cleaning, rinsing and drying timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines13
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Testing timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments(32)
- Testing accuracy of meters, gauges, indicators or other recording or controlling instruments to locate defective components and for conformance to standards(30)
- Testing, calibrating and adjusting electronic, mercurial, aneroid and other types of meteorological instruments for compliance with printed specifications and schematic diagrams, using voltmeters, oscilloscopes, tube testers, and other test instruments(30)
- Checking whether assembled units conform to specifications and ensuring stipulated performance and sensitivity by standard tests.(28)
- Calibrating instruments or scales, using hand tools and computer or electronic devices(26)
- Adjusting timing regulators, using calipers, watch-rate recorders and tweezers(21)
- Inspecting components, connections and drive mechanisms to detect defects(20)
- Assembling instruments and devices such as barometers, control valves, gyroscopes, hygrometers, speedometers, tachometers and thermostats(14)
- Repairing, cleaning and adjusting mechanisms of timing instruments such as watches and clocks(14)
- Repairing and setting optical instruments such as microscopes, telescopes, theodolites and sextants(14)
- Adjusting and repairing masts, supporting structures, clearance lights, control panels, control cabling and wiring, and other electrical and mechanical devices(14)
- Cleaning, rinsing and drying timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines(13)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 21.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Testing timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments
- • Testing accuracy of meters, gauges, indicators or other recording or controlling instruments to locate defective components and for conformance to standards
- • Cleaning, rinsing and drying timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines
- • Adjusting and repairing masts, supporting structures, clearance lights, control panels, control cabling and wiring, and other electrical and mechanical devices
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Handicraft and printing workers group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Handicraft and printing workers |
|---|---|
| Italy | 1.0% · 230 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 0.7% · 32 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 0.6% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 0.6% · 28 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 0.5% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 0.5% · 27 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 0.5% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 0.5% · 80 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 0.5% · 192 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 0.4% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 0.4% · 22 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 0.4% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 0.4% · 117 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 0.4% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 0.4% · 17 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 0.4% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 0.3% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 0.3% · 108 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 0.3% · 24 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 0.3% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 0.3% · 65 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 0.3% · 28 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 0.3% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 0.3% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 0.2% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 0.2% · 13 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 0.2% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 0.2% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 0.2% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Craft and related trades workers). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland4,098
- Iceland3,826
- Denmark3,666
- Norway3,260
- Belgium2,979
- Germany2,859
- Luxembourg2,760
- Sweden2,733
- Netherlands2,717
- Austria2,715
- Finland2,711
- EU272,364
- Italy2,314
- Ireland2,200
- Spain2,124
- France2,122
- Malta2,032
- Slovenia2,012
- Lithuania2,008
- Greece1,799
- Estonia1,795
- Poland1,787
- Czechia1,781
- Cyprus1,751
- Romania1,734
- Hungary1,684
- Latvia1,680
- Slovakia1,672
- Croatia1,505
- Portugal1,285
- Bulgaria1,217
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Handicraft and printing workers group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
- Glass makers, cutters, grinders and finishers19
- Jewellery and precious-metal workers18
- Potters and related workers18
- Sign writers, decorative painters, engravers and etchers18
- Musical instrument makers and tuners14
- Handicraft workers in wood, basketry and related materials14
- Handicraft workers in textile, leather and related materials13
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?