Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers

Most exposed tasks

Highest structured exposure values in this role’s task mix — the work AI systems can already do most of.

• Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of interconnections and capacities of pipelines, valve manifolds, pumps, and tankage.68
• Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and operating times.64
• Read operating schedules or instructions or receive verbal orders to determine amounts to be pumped.64

Augmentable tasks

Work where AI assists rather than replaces — the productivity frontier of this role.

• Collect and deliver sample solutions for laboratory analysis.54
• Tend vessels that store substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials, checking levels of substances by using calibrated rods or by reading mercury gauges and tank charts.53
• Turn valves and start pumps to start or regulate flows of substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials.52

Most durable tasks

Lowest exposure — typically judgment, relationships, physical presence, or accountability. This is the human moat.

The current data release does not distinguish durable tasks for this role.

Task exposure values and classifications come from the versioned data release — they are structured data, not model output. Bars show exposure contribution relative to this role’s task mix.

What this means

A score of 56 puts Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers in the third quartile of analyzed occupations. In practice, exposure this high is about the mix: 5 of 14 analyzed tasks lean automatable, 9 augmentable, and 0 durable. The useful question isn’t “will AI take this job” — it’s which tasks go first, which get faster, and where to reposition time. That’s what the personalized report maps against your actual week.

One next move: audit how much of your week sits in the exposed tasks above — then shift time toward the durable set or investigate the adjacent roles below.

Lower-exposure adjacent roles

No adjacent role in the current data release is at least 10 points lower with ≥50% skill overlap — we don’t label anything “safer” unless the data supports it.

Labor-market context

• $61,770median wage
• 9,780employed
• 1,500annual openings
• +3.1%projected growth

Context only — labor statistics are not inputs to the exposure score. See methodology.

Related roles

Adjacent by skills or family — no exposure claim implied.

• Wellhead Pumpers 48
• Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators 58
• Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers 63
• Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 53
• Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators 62
• Power Plant Operators 65

FAQ — Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers

What does a score of 56 mean for a Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers?

It means that, weighted across the 14 tasks we analyzed for this role, the task mix sits at 56 on a 0–100 exposure scale — in the third quartile of analyzed occupations. It measures task exposure to current and near-term AI capabilities, not the probability of losing a job.

Which tasks in this role are most exposed to AI?

The highest-exposure tasks are: Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of interconnections and capacities of pipelines, valve manifolds, pumps, and tankage; Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and operating times; Read operating schedules or instructions or receive verbal orders to determine amounts to be pumped. Exposure is scored per task from structured data, not generated by a language model.

Which parts of this job are most durable?

The current data release does not distinguish durable tasks for this role.

Is this score personalized to me?

No — this page shows the occupation-level baseline. Two people with the same title often do different work. The $9 personalized report recalculates the score from the tasks you actually do and builds a concrete 7/30/90-day plan around them.