Jobs Most Vulnerable to Automation: 2026 Report

According to an April 2026 report on job automation, patternmakers are threatened the most by automation, with 99% risk. With most job market predictions focusing on AI automation of white-collar occupations, a new study by construction scheduling platform Planera identified physical and manual jobs that are most vulnerable to automation.

• Patternmakers are at the biggest risk of losing jobs due to automation, with employment projected to drop by 24.4% in the next few years.

• The most common occupation in the list is the cashier job, with 3.1 million people currently employed.

• The production sector is in the most risky position due to manual labor performed more and more by machines.

The study analyzed over 55 physical and manual professions to identify which ones are the most and least resistant to automation. The research deliberately excluded office, computer, and technology roles, focusing instead on the trades, production, logistics, healthcare, and service occupations that make up the physical basis of the workforce. Factors like automation rate, current employment and its change, and median annual salary were considered to provide a clear reflection of the human cost of automation and the value of hands-on work.

Here’s a quick look at the manual occupations that will be fully automated in the near future:

Occupation Title	Occupation Group	Automation Risk	Employment 2024  (OEWS, persons)	Median Annual  Wage 2024 ($)
Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic	Production	99%	1,570.00	54,540.00
Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining	Mining	97%	6,130.00	68,860.00
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	Production	91%	13,810.00	48,310.00
Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products	Agriculture	89%	26,870.00	35,430.00
Cashiers	Retail	88%	3,148,030.00	31,190.00
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	Production	87%	8,760.00	49,240.00
Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand	Production	86%	11,850.00	41,690.00
Print Binding and Finishing Workers	Production	86%	36,470.00	39,820.00
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	Production	85%	5,310.00	46,630.00
Sewing Machine Operators	Production	85%	109,590.00	36,000.00

You can find the full report findings by following this link.

1. Metal and plastic patternmakers

• Occupation group: production

• Occupation risk: 99% (imminent)

• Employment, 2024: 1,570 persons

• Median annual wage: $54.5K

The automation risk for patternmakers is set at 99% and categorized as an imminent change from human to a fully automated workforce. Currently, only 1.5K people are employed as metal and plastic patternmakers across the US, and their numbers are predicted to lower by 24.4% before 2034. Similar to other occupations on the list, the patternmakers’ salary is below the national average, and brings them $54.5K annually.

2. Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining

While loading and moving machine operators are the only mining sector profession in the top 10, the whole industry was affected by automation and job cuts in the last few decades. Right now, the risk of automation sits at 97%, another ‘imminent’ workforce shift, according to industry predictions. Only 6,130 are employed as machine operators in underground mining, and these numbers will decrease by 22.3% in the upcoming years.

3. Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

In third place are milling and planing machine setters, who currently make only $48.3K annually. There are twice as many machine setters as underground mining machine operators, with 13.8K, 14.4% of whom risk losing their jobs in the decade to come. 

4. Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products

Graders and sorters are the most vulnerable profession to automation in the agricultural sector, with 89% risk. It is also the second least-paid occupation in the top 10, bringing employees only $35.4K a year. Still, 26.8K people work as graders and sorters, while the number of jobs is projected to go down by 5.4% in the next few years.

5. Cashiers

Cashiers rank fifth as an occupation with the largest employment. Currently, over 3.1 million people are working as cashiers all over the US, but the risk of losing a job due to automation comes to 88%. It is also the profession with the lowest salary, as cashiers make $31.1K a year on average.

An automation expert from Planera commented on the study:

“The conversation about automation has been almost entirely focused on office workers and knowledge jobs, but the production floor is quietly going through an equally significant shift. Service and white-collar occupations are all comparatively likely to be displaced, yet manufacturing and production workers rarely feature in mainstream coverage. Patternmakers and machine operators don't make headlines the way software engineers do, but the people in these roles are facing some of the most immediate disruption in the entire job market.”