Construction Laborers

Overview

Construction Laborers has a national median salary of $47,120 per year, with +7.3% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers.

Work Values

• Support
• Relationships
• Working Conditions

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or to heat or move materials, such as asphalt.
• Lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools.
• Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials.
• Position, join, align, or seal structural components, such as concrete wall sections or pipes.
• Perform site activities required of green certified construction practices, such as implementing waste management procedures, identifying materials for reuse, or installing erosion or sedimentation control mechanisms.

Work Activities

• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Getting Information
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment

Detailed Work Activities

• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
• Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished a bachelor's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Bachelor's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for no formal educational credential.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Construction Laborers:

Video Resources