# Industrial Machinery Mechanics

US SOC code 49-9041. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/49-9041

Also called: Maintenance technician, Industrial maintenance mechanic, Reliability technician, Plant maintenance technician, Equipment maintenance technician.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **439,640** US industrial machinery mechanics, with median pay of **$64,520** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/work-in-late-19th-century/) of **180,000** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for industrial machinery mechanics: CMMS platforms + IIoT sensors, 2010 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 17.8% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=49-9041&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **14.5%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Industrial Machinery Mechanics employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1820
- Latest US employment: 439,640 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Latest US median pay: $64,520 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [11]
- Outlook: +17.8% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [27]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **United Kingdom** (UK SOC 5223)
  - Employment, 2025: 223,000. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [7]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14): employee jobs in SOC 5223 Metal working production and maintenance fitters, United Kingdom, 2025 (ASHE "number of jobs", thousands x1000; excludes self-employment). Open Government Licence v3.0.
  - Median pay, 2025: £40,002. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [13]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14.7a): median gross annual pay for all employee jobs in SOC 5223 Metal working production and maintenance fitters, United Kingdom, 2025. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- **Australia** (ANZSCO 3232)
  - Employment, 2025: 122,000. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey [8]. ABS Labour Force Survey (Detailed), table EQ08: employed persons in ANZSCO 3232 Metal Fitters and Machinists, national (summed across sex and state/territory), annual average of 4 quarterly estimates.
  - Median pay, 2025: A$135,512. Source: ABS Employee Earnings May 2025 [14]. Annualised (x52) from A$2,606 median weekly earnings. ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025: median pay for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, before tax. Surfaced via the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile.

### All 30 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 180,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Derived estimate [1] |
| 1940 | 420,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1940 [2] |
| 1950 | 550,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Derived estimate [3] |
| 1956 | n/a | $4,200 (estimate) | Est., Derived estimate [9] |
| 1979 | 650,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., BLS Beyond the Numbers [4] |
| 1980 | n/a | $18,500 (estimate) | Est., Derived estimate [10] |
| 2000 | 192,180 | n/a | BLS OEWS 2000 [5] |
| 2003 | 192,300 | $38,440 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [6] |
| 2004 | 212,770 | $39,060 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [6] |
| 2005 | 234,650 | $39,740 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [6] |
| 2006 | 250,810 | $41,050 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [6] |
| 2007 | 266,550 | $42,350 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [6] |
| 2008 | 280,620 | $43,670 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [6] |
| 2009 | 276,230 | $44,470 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [6] |
| 2010 | 275,370 | $45,420 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [6] |
| 2011 | 292,470 | $46,270 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [6] |
| 2012 | 301,560 | $46,920 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [6] |
| 2013 | 306,860 | $47,910 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [6] |
| 2014 | 313,880 | $48,630 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [6] |
| 2015 | 323,280 | $49,690 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [6] |
| 2016 | 334,490 | $50,040 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [6] |
| 2017 | 341,260 | $51,360 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [6] |
| 2018 | 362,440 | $52,340 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [6] |
| 2019 | 387,630 | $53,590 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [6] |
| 2020 | 385,980 | $55,490 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [6] |
| 2021 | 373,090 | $59,840 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [6] |
| 2022 | 386,120 | $59,830 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [6] |
| 2023 | 412,650 | $61,420 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [6] |
| 2024 | 421,940 | $63,760 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [6] |
| 2025 | 439,640 | $64,520 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [6] |

## Sources (100)

### Employment series

1. [Derived estimate; Library of Congress, Rise of Industrial America: Work in the Late 19th Century (contextual)](https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/work-in-late-19th-century/), Future History estimate
2. [IPUMS USA -- Occupation and Industry Codes and Documentation (1940 Census occupational classification)](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/occ_ind.shtml), IPUMS / University of Minnesota
3. [Derived estimate; Ancestry, What Work Looked Like in 1950 (1950 Census occupational summary, contextual)](https://www.ancestry.com/c/1950-census/what-work-looked-like-in-1950), Future History estimate
4. [BLS Beyond the Numbers -- "Forty years of falling manufacturing employment" (manufacturing peaked at 19.5 million in June 1979)](https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-9/forty-years-of-falling-manufacturing-employment.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
7. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 5223, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip), [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
8. [ABS: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, table EQ08 (Employed persons by Occupation unit group, ANZSCO 2013), latest release](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release), Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Wage series

9. [Derived estimate; University of Missouri Libraries, Prices and Wages by Decade 1950-1959 (compiles BLS wage bulletins, contextual)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), Future History estimate
10. [Derived estimate; University of Missouri Libraries, Prices and Wages by Decade 1980-1989 (compiles BLS wage surveys, contextual)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1980-1989), Future History estimate
11. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
12. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
13. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 5223, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip), [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
14. [Jobs and Skills Australia: Metal Fitters and Machinists (ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025)](https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/data/occupation-and-industry-profiles/occupations/3232-metal-fitters-and-machinists), Jobs and Skills Australia / Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Tool eras

15. [Library of Congress -- Rise of Industrial America: Work in the Late 19th Century (factory labor and mechanization)](https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/work-in-late-19th-century/), Library of Congress
16. [ATS Advanced Technology Services -- The Evolution of Industrial Maintenance (pre-WWII era)](https://www.advancedtech.com/blog/evolution-of-industrial-maintenance/), Advanced Technology Services
17. [Britannica -- History of the organization of work: Organization of work in the industrial age (electrification of factories)](https://www.britannica.com/money/history-of-the-organization-of-work/Organization-of-work-in-the-industrial-age), Britannica
18. [FTMaintenance CMMS -- History of Maintenance: The Evolution of Industrial and Facility Maintenance Practices](https://ftmaintenance.com/maintenance-management/history-of-maintenance/), FTMaintenance
19. [AllAboutLean.com -- A Brief History of Maintenance (preventive maintenance evolution, 1950s-1960s)](https://www.allaboutlean.com/maintenance-history/), AllAboutLean
20. [DMC Portugal -- History of vibration measurement in predictive maintenance (Bently Nevada 1965, IRD data collector 1982, portable FFT analyzers)](https://www.dmc.pt/en/historia-da-medicao-de-vibracoes-em-manutencao-preditiva/), DMC Portugal
21. [O\*NET 49-9041.00 -- Industrial Machinery Mechanics: industrial control and PLC software as core technology skills](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/49-9041.00), O\*NET / BLS
22. [IBM Research -- AI agents added to Maximo Application Suite for condition-based maintenance (2025)](https://research.ibm.com/blog/Maximo-automating-asset-management), IBM Research
23. [Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering -- AI and robotics in predictive maintenance: comprehensive review (2025)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/mechanical-engineering/articles/10.3389/fmech.2025.1722114/full), Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering
24. [Augury -- Machine Health platform: 1.1B+ hours of machine data, 310% ROI (Forrester TEI), 170+ manufacturers](https://www.augury.com/), Augury
25. [Siemens -- Eigen Engineering Agent: AI for PLC coding, HMI design, TIA Portal; GA April 2026 (Hannover Messe)](https://press.siemens.com/global/en/pressrelease/siemens-launches-eigen-engineering-agent-bringing-purpose-built-ai-industrial), Siemens
26. [llumin -- Will AI Replace Maintenance Technicians? Physical inspection, sensory diagnosis remain human (2025)](https://llumin.com/blog/will-ai-replace-maintenance-technicians/), llumin

### Forecasts and exposure studies

27. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 49-9041 Industrial machinery mechanics (2025: 446.9 thousand; 2035: 526.6 thousand; +17.8%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=49-9041&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
28. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 49-9041.00, human-rated β 0.145)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

29. [FTMaintenance CMMS -- History of Maintenance: WWII era formalization of industrial maintenance departments](https://ftmaintenance.com/maintenance-management/history-of-maintenance/), FTMaintenance
30. [DMC Portugal -- History of vibration measurement in predictive maintenance (Bently Nevada 1965)](https://www.dmc.pt/en/historia-da-medicao-de-vibracoes-em-manutencao-preditiva/), DMC Portugal

### Predecessors & successors

31. [Library of Congress -- Rise of Industrial America: Work in the Late 19th Century](https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/work-in-late-19th-century/), Library of Congress
32. [FTMaintenance CMMS -- WWII era maintenance professionalization: Department of War recruited mechanics from John Deere and other manufacturers](https://ftmaintenance.com/maintenance-management/history-of-maintenance/), FTMaintenance
33. [BLS OOH -- Millwrights: related occupation and advancement path from industrial machinery mechanics](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/industrial-machinery-mechanics-and-maintenance-workers-and-millwrights.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Present-day analysis

- [BLS OOH 2024-34 -- Industrial Machinery Mechanics, Maintenance Workers, and Millwrights (13% growth, 54,200 openings/yr)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/industrial-machinery-mechanics-and-maintenance-workers-and-millwrights.htm), accessed 2026-06-03
- [O\*NET 29.3 -- Industrial Machinery Mechanics (49-9041.00): tasks, knowledge, skills, technology](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/49-9041.00), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Augury -- Industrial AI platform: 1.1B+ hours of machine data, 310% ROI (Forrester TEI), 170+ manufacturers](https://www.augury.com/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Augury -- Machine Health Ultra Low: first AI for 1-150 RPM slow-rotating machinery (March 2025)](https://www.augury.com/media-center/press/machine-health-category-leader-augury-releases-first-ai-powered-predictive-maintenance-solution-for-ultra-low-rpm-machinery/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Tractian -- AI-powered CMMS + predictive maintenance: 1,500+ manufacturers including Kraft Heinz, Whirlpool](https://tractian.com/en), accessed 2026-06-03
- [IBM Research -- AI agents added to Maximo Application Suite for condition-based maintenance (2025)](https://research.ibm.com/blog/Maximo-automating-asset-management), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Siemens -- Eigen Engineering Agent: AI for PLC coding, HMI design, TIA Portal (Hannover Messe, April 2026)](https://press.siemens.com/global/en/pressrelease/siemens-launches-eigen-engineering-agent-bringing-purpose-built-ai-industrial), accessed 2026-06-03
- [llumin -- Will AI Replace Maintenance Technicians? Physical inspection, sensory diagnosis, and safety decisions remain human (2025)](https://llumin.com/blog/will-ai-replace-maintenance-technicians/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 -- GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering -- AI and robotics in predictive maintenance: comprehensive review (2025)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/mechanical-engineering/articles/10.3389/fmech.2025.1722114/full), accessed 2026-06-03

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.