Steam engine and boiler operators
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).
- Monitoring and inspecting performance of equipment for efficient operation and ensuring boiler water, chemical, and fuel are maintained at required levels26
- Analysing and recording instrument readings, troubleshooting and performing minor repairs to prevent equipment or system failure24
- Monitoring ship’s engine, machinery and equipment indicators, recording variables and reporting abnormalities to ship’s engineer officer on watch21
- Testing boiler water quality or arrange for testing, adjusting and taking necessary corrective action, such as adding chemicals to prevent corrosion and harmful deposits19
- Operating, cleaning, lubricating and monitoring steam engines, boilers and auxiliary equipment such as pumps, compressors and air-conditioning equipment to supply and maintain steam and power for buildings, marine vessels or pneumatic tools18
- Operating and maintaining off-loading liquid pumps and valves.15
- Firing coal furnaces by hand or with stokers and gas- or oil-fed boilers, using automatic gas feeds or oil pumps15
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.
- Monitoring and inspecting performance of equipment for efficient operation and ensuring boiler water, chemical, and fuel are maintained at required levels(26)
- Analysing and recording instrument readings, troubleshooting and performing minor repairs to prevent equipment or system failure(24)
- Monitoring ship’s engine, machinery and equipment indicators, recording variables and reporting abnormalities to ship’s engineer officer on watch(21)
- Testing boiler water quality or arrange for testing, adjusting and taking necessary corrective action, such as adding chemicals to prevent corrosion and harmful deposits(19)
- Operating, cleaning, lubricating and monitoring steam engines, boilers and auxiliary equipment such as pumps, compressors and air-conditioning equipment to supply and maintain steam and power for buildings, marine vessels or pneumatic tools(18)
- Operating and maintaining off-loading liquid pumps and valves.(15)
- Firing coal furnaces by hand or with stokers and gas- or oil-fed boilers, using automatic gas feeds or oil pumps(15)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 20.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Monitoring and inspecting performance of equipment for efficient operation and ensuring boiler water, chemical, and fuel are maintained at required levels
- • Analysing and recording instrument readings, troubleshooting and performing minor repairs to prevent equipment or system failure
- • Firing coal furnaces by hand or with stokers and gas- or oil-fed boilers, using automatic gas feeds or oil pumps
- • Operating and maintaining off-loading liquid pumps and valves.
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 Stationary plant and machine operators group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Stationary plant and machine operators |
|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 3.9% · 114 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 3.7% · 171 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 3.3% · 254 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 3.3% · 33 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 3.2% · 167 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 3.1% · 81 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 3.0% · 159 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 2.8% · 19 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 2.8% · 47 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 2.7% · 462 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 2.6% · 620 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 2.3% · 59 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 2.0% · 594 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 2.0% · 58 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 1.9% · 427 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 1.9% · 784 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 1.8% · 93 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 1.7% · 26 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 1.5% · 46 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 1.5% · 64 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 1.4% · 12 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 1.3% · 61 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 1.2% · 34 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 1.2% · 55 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 1.1% · 59 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 1.0% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 0.8% · 288 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 0.8% · 3 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 0.8% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 0.6% · 63 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Plant and machine operators and assemblers). 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.
- Switzerland3,902
- Denmark3,581
- Norway3,391
- Iceland3,272
- Ireland3,013
- Belgium3,003
- Luxembourg2,848
- Finland2,711
- Austria2,708
- Netherlands2,689
- Germany2,646
- Sweden2,578
- Italy2,397
- EU272,188
- Spain2,169
- France2,125
- Slovenia1,961
- Poland1,931
- Lithuania1,895
- Cyprus1,832
- Malta1,828
- Greece1,726
- Estonia1,653
- Romania1,652
- Hungary1,630
- Croatia1,623
- Czechia1,621
- Latvia1,590
- Slovakia1,571
- Portugal1,289
- Bulgaria1,106
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 Stationary plant and machine operators 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
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?