Civil Engineers

AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
0.0%
risk level
POLLING
34%
Based on 1,512 votes
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
6.9%
by year 2032
WAGES
$89,940
or $43.24 per hour
Volume
307,570
as of 2022
SUMMARY
JOB SCORE
7.8/10

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Automation risk

0.0% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): Occupations in this category have a low probability of being automated, as they typically demand complex problem-solving, creativity, strong interpersonal skills, and a high degree of manual dexterity. These jobs often involve intricate hand movements and precise coordination, making it difficult for machines to replicate the required tasks.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Originality

  • Negotiation

  • Persuasion

  • Social Perceptiveness

User poll

34% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 0.0% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Civil Engineers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?






Sentiment

The following graph(s) are included wherever there is a substantial amount of votes to render meaningful data. These visual representations display user poll results over time, providing a significant indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (quarterly)

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Civil Engineers' job openings is expected to rise 6.9% by 2032

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2021 and 2031
Updated projections are due 09-2023.

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2022, the median annual wage for 'Civil Engineers' was $89,940, or $43 per hour

'Civil Engineers' were paid 94.2% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $46,310

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2022 there were 307,570 people employed as 'Civil Engineers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.21% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 480 people are employed as 'Civil Engineers'.

Job description

Perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems.

SOC Code: 17-2051.00

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Comments

Leave a comment

will (Highly likely) says
Civil engineering has its problems but there are set solutions to each problem because each one has already been discovered and solved. A computer could easily design a building roadways and other infrastructure taking into account maximum efficiency
Mar 25, 2024 at 05:09 PM
SIDNEY ROGERIO BENEDINI (No chance) says
There´s no way to be replaced by a robot, because the occupation requires many kinds of solutions based on questions that depends on the cronogram, time, situation of construction, environment, chash flow, policy, etc.
Jan 18, 2024 at 11:56 AM
Arpit (Uncertain) says
3D Printers are reality, and automated design sheets are also available yet getting the understanding of the client requirement and handling the projects will need the specialised personells. And it also require Empathy towards the constantly changing demand of the clients.
Aug 13, 2023 at 05:28 AM
Jimin (Low) says
I think 20% of load will decrease due to automation like 3d printing and other ai,
But there is still dificult ,structural stand-point you can integrate with software and on site you can use 3d printing however current technology didn't have options to use reinforcement so there is always dought about onsite structural integrity.
Aug 10, 2023 at 11:20 AM
kalpeshkumar (No chance) says
cause field work is not a thing for the ai to handle and there is physical involvement so much .
Aug 09, 2023 at 07:46 AM
dew (Highly likely) says
3D print technology would make it cheaper and easier to build things prefabricated
Jul 12, 2023 at 02:33 AM
Yashir (No chance) says
Civil Engineering is just because of Creativity. Man power places a Vital Role
Jun 10, 2023 at 12:59 AM
Omar (Highly likely) says
The robots will design the buildings without any common error like what happens with humans.
Jun 06, 2023 at 06:20 AM
D Lee (Moderate) says
There's a lot of civil engineering processes that are redundant and repetitive. A lot of this can be replicated and automated by ML and AI.

The ultimate review/signing of plans will still require humans. (until the machines decide otherwise)
May 15, 2023 at 07:39 PM
Emerson Mauricio (Low) says
The commands will still be from the Engineer. Robots and AI will only make the work faster and more efficient.
Dec 26, 2022 at 01:04 PM
Hari (Low) says
This job is all about creativity and presence of mind.
Oct 18, 2022 at 12:46 PM
RCE (Low) says
Many engineers require a lot of human thinking, as well as considering other engineering projects and the type of work that will be done with the project.

The ability to plan ahead and the intelligence to consider different outcomes without failure is something most people want a human doing.
Jun 10, 2022 at 02:11 PM
Javed (Low) says
It depends on which particular divisions you are involved with. Engineering design, yes, we can already see some automation here. Construction, nah, not in this lifetime. Contract and Project Management, haha, good luck robots/AI's.
Mar 10, 2022 at 10:23 PM
Moritz Mayr (Highly likely) says
There is no creative process involved, at least to my knowledge. The architect designs the building and can give the constraints under which AI has to optimize the building, statics, material consumption and more. What an engineer does is highly mathematical and predictable and can be done better by computer than by humans.
Nov 22, 2021 at 10:09 AM
Sameer says
A computer can adhere to the constraints given by the architect but a civil engineer analyses them properly and I don’t think so there’s any chance AI can take over this profession. One more thing is negotiation and curation involved in this job…
Feb 29, 2024 at 11:56 AM
Glenn (Low) says
Civil engineers need high creativity and robots are just programmed to do a specific task again and again
Oct 14, 2021 at 02:33 PM
Reily (Low) says
It is expected that this activity of reasoning, execution and visual and instant supervision will not be replaced by teams that do not manage immediate reactions or alternative solutions to current problems.
Sep 06, 2021 at 01:48 AM
Prajwol (No chance) says
It needs creativity.
Apr 30, 2021 at 09:20 AM
DaBaby (No chance) says
Automation will augment the field greatly but will not replace civil engineers at all
Mar 11, 2021 at 06:44 PM
Jam Jamonir (Uncertain) says
Only construction engineers will be preserved. Designs can be performed by AI.
Feb 23, 2021 at 05:32 AM
Tal says
Wrong. Most designs aren't cookie cutters and minor details can play a crucial part in making a design "feasible" or not.
You can optimize the heck out of something but as engineers we often make choices that have to account for cases where things may not be needed to be that way
Apr 13, 2023 at 01:22 PM
Big Al (Uncertain) says
I'd also like to point out that the design aspect "may" be automated but in the field when problems occur which tends to be often in Construction...will still need individuals with experience and "know-how" to prevent a domino affect of problems to follow. So, I think Civil Engineers and Inspectors are safe from their jobs being automated.
Dec 02, 2020 at 06:40 PM

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