YOU’RE NEXT
Search another job

Power Line Worker

🇺🇸 United States · Construction & Trades
Last to go#783 of 790 jobs in the United States · Among the safest 1%

My Job Lifespan

26 yrs 11 mo
00days 00:00:00:000

until AI starts replacing people in this job
Sep 8, 2053 · 9843 days left

Pole climbing for live-line work and night storm restoration is one of the last human jobs; drones and live-line robots are crew tools, not replacements.

AI vs Humans: whose side are you on?

Replacement riskLow
Human share in 204685%

Estimated AI timeline

AI impact · Shielded
2026 · Now2066
Likely range 19 yrs 11 mo – 29 yrs 11 mo

Power Line Worker: what AI changes and what stays

A line worker's job is climbing a pole to work on a live high-voltage line, splicing cable in a trench or manhole, and restoring power at night after a storm knocks a grid down. Drones already scout damaged lines from the air, but climbing and splicing still take a person on the pole.

What are drones and robots actually doing on this job?

Drones fly over storm damage to spot broken lines faster than a truck patrol could, and some robots now help feed cable through an underground trench. None of that replaces the climb itself: working a live wire at height, or threading a splice by hand in a cramped manhole, is still done by a person on the crew, not a machine.

Why does storm restoration stay especially protected work?

Fixing a specific, unpredictable break on a pole at night in bad weather takes a trained person making a real-time call, not a program running from an office. That physical demand is why YOU'RE NEXT keeps this among the last trades to see any hiring slowdown, not expecting real change until around 2053.

What should someone entering this trade build toward?

A lineworker certificate or an electrical technology program is the standard way in, and supervised hours actually climbing and splicing matter more than classroom time alone. The same climbing and cable skills also carry over into wind and solar line work, worth a look through renewable energy programs.

Written

Top 3 jobs to switch toShown after the test

Find jobs that fit you and can outlast AI in 3 minutes

Comments· English

Compare another job with yours

Add a colleague’s, friend’s or family member’s job to see the two clocks side by side.

Similar jobs

Check your major instead

Sources

Sources describe work, regulations and education. AI replacement dates and scores are AI estimates, not predictions by the cited organizations. Methodology