Repair electronic equipment
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 13 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment (4.A.3.b.5) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 13 occupations that perform it.
- Engineer, install, maintain, or repair security systems, programmable logic controls, or other security-related electronic systems.
- Make repairs to robots or peripheral equipment, such as replacement of defective circuit boards, sensors, controllers, encoders, or servomotors.
- Test batteries, using hydrometers and ammeters, and charge batteries as necessary.
- Repair or replace faulty equipment, such as defective and damaged telephones, wires, switching system components, and associated equipment.
- Test battery charges, and replace or recharge batteries as necessary.
- Repair or rebuild equipment such as starters, generators, distributors, or door controls, using electrician's tools.
- Construct, test, maintain, and repair substation relay and control systems.
- Diagnose or repair problems with electronic equipment, such as sound, navigation, communication, and security equipment, in motor vehicles.
- Disassemble entertainment equipment and repair or replace loose, worn, or defective components and wiring, using hand tools and soldering irons.
- Repair and maintain electrical and electronic controls for propulsion and braking systems.
- Test and replace batteries and other electronic components.
- Maintain electrical switchgear, process controls, transmitters, gauges, and control equipment in accordance with geothermal plant procedures.
- Maintain or make minor adjustments or field repairs to equipment used in surveys, including the replacement of parts on traffic data gathering devices.
- Repair and operate battery-charging equipment.
- Install, service, and repair electronic equipment or instruments such as televisions, radios, and videocassette recorders.
- Maintain, calibrate, or repair plant instrumentation, control, and electronic devices in geothermal plants.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
13 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay
- Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers, Motor Vehicles
- Geothermal Technicians
- Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers
- Rail Car Repairers
- Robotics Technicians
- Security Management Specialists
- Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
- Traffic Technicians
- Watch and Clock Repairers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Repair electrical or electronic equipment”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Repair electrical circuits or wiring | 11 |
| Repair electrical components | 9 |
| Repair electrical equipment | 4 |
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.