Ships’ deck crews and related workers
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).
- Steering ship according to instructions18
- Standing look-out watches at sea and when entering or leaving harbour or other narrow waters15
- Handling ropes and wires, and operates mooring equipment15
- Breaking out, rigging and stowing cargo-handling gear, stationary rigging and running gear.14
- Maintaining and, in some cases, operating ship’s equipment, cargo gear, rigging, lifesaving and firefighting appliances13
- Performing deck and hull cleaning, scraping, painting and other maintenance duties as required11
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.
- Steering ship according to instructions(18)
- Standing look-out watches at sea and when entering or leaving harbour or other narrow waters(15)
- Handling ropes and wires, and operates mooring equipment(15)
- Breaking out, rigging and stowing cargo-handling gear, stationary rigging and running gear.(14)
- Maintaining and, in some cases, operating ship’s equipment, cargo gear, rigging, lifesaving and firefighting appliances(13)
- Performing deck and hull cleaning, scraping, painting and other maintenance duties as required(11)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 14.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Steering ship according to instructions
- • Standing look-out watches at sea and when entering or leaving harbour or other narrow waters
- • Performing deck and hull cleaning, scraping, painting and other maintenance duties as required
- • Maintaining and, in some cases, operating ship‚Äôs equipment, cargo gear, rigging, lifesaving and firefighting appliances
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 Drivers and mobile plant operators group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Drivers and mobile plant operators |
|---|---|
| Romania | 8.8% · 675 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 6.9% · 362 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 6.8% · 200 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 6.2% · 55 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 5.9% · 41 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 5.7% · 98 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 5.6% · 960 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 5.4% · 234 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 5.4% · 140 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 5.3% · 250 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 5.0% · 1,102 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 4.8% · 70 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 4.6% · 119 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 4.1% · 41 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 4.0% · 13 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 4.0% · 209 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 3.9% · 20 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 3.9% · 112 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 3.7% · 194 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 3.7% · 1,078 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 3.6% · 8 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 3.5% · 156 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 3.3% · 1,113 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 3.2% · 1,333 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 3.1% · 161 thousand · 2025 |
| Luxembourg | 3.1% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 3.0% · 712 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 2.9% · 81 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 2.9% · 281 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 2.5% · 76 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 2.1% · 103 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 Drivers and mobile plant 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.
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?