{
  "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register",
  "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/fiberglass-laminators-and-fabricators/",
  "methodology": "https://cookedindex.com/methodology",
  "notice": "Verdicts are re-examined as evidence accumulates. Re-fetch before relying on this; the page above always carries the current score.",
  "scored_at": "2026-08-11",
  "model": "claude-opus-5",
  "occupation": {
    "title": "Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators",
    "soc_code": "51-2051",
    "category": "Production",
    "us_employment": 16170,
    "median_annual_wage": 46880
  },
  "verdict": "EXPOSED",
  "risk_resistance": 40,
  "contested": false,
  "near_boundary": false,
  "dimensions": {
    "task_resistance": 14,
    "embodiment": 16,
    "liability_shield": 1,
    "trust_premium": 3,
    "judgment_accountability": 6
  },
  "reasoning": {
    "task_resistance": "Reaching into a 40-foot hull to squeegee out air bubbles, feeling for dry spots through a wet mat, and hand-fitting mat around corners and stringers are tasks no software touches and few robots do well — the 14 rather than 18 reflects that flat panels, chopper-gun spray-up and infusion setups have already been mechanized in higher-volume shops.",
    "embodiment": "The whole job is in the shop: kneeling inside molds, working overhead, handling styrene fumes and resin drips, running grinders and trim saws on cured parts — 16 not 20 because the mold bay is still your own controlled floor, not a customer's roof or a highway shoulder.",
    "liability_shield": "There is no state license for laminating; OSHA respirator fit-testing and a resin-handling safety class are employer paperwork, and when a hull delaminates the boatbuilder's warranty and its engineer absorb it, not you.",
    "trust_premium": "The part ships inside a finished boat, tub or tank with the brand's name on it — nobody buying it knows who laid the glass, and the 3 rather than 0 is only because shop foremen keep the laminator who consistently gets gel-coat thickness right.",
    "judgment_accountability": "You decide when a layup has cured enough to demold, whether a void needs grinding back and re-wetting, and how much catalyst to run on a hot day — real calls, but bounded by the layup schedule, the ply drawing and resin-to-glass ratios someone else specified."
  },
  "rationale": "Hand layup of glass mat, resin rolling, gel-coat spraying, trimming and grinding cured parts are physical tasks in a messy shop environment — language AI does none of it, and dexterous work inside boat hulls, tank molds and tub shells is still hard for robots. The real pressure is older, cheaper automation: chopper-gun and spray robots, resin transfer molding, closed-mold and infusion processes that cut headcount per part, plus offshoring of high-volume composite work. There is no license, no client relationship, and little discretion beyond catching voids, dry spots and cure defects, so nothing protects the job if the process changes.",
  "outlook": "Employment keeps drifting down as closed-mold, infusion and robotic spray processes reduce labor per part, while skilled infusion techs, mold makers and repair specialists stay in demand at better pay.",
  "what_would_raise_it": {
    "levers": [
      {
        "dimension": "liability_shield",
        "change": "Certified composite laminator credentials becoming mandatory sign-off for structural parts — e.g. ABS/DNV or FAA-adjacent shop approvals already require named, qualified laminators for classed hulls and aerospace secondary structure; if ACMA-style certification or state boiler/pressure-vessel rules (ASME RTP-1 for FRP tanks already requires certified fabricators and stamped inspection) were extended to more product classes, the person who lays up and signs the traveler becomes legally identified",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 4
      },
      {
        "dimension": "task_resistance",
        "change": "Task-mix shift: as chopper-gun, infusion and RTM absorb flat-panel and high-volume layup, remaining human work concentrates in one-off molds, repair, prototype tooling and complex-geometry closeouts — the tier that resists both robots and process automation. Visible now in marine refit and wind-blade field repair, where damaged-part rebuild cannot be molded",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 3
      },
      {
        "dimension": "judgment_accountability",
        "change": "NDT and repair-scope calls: if blade-repair and hull-survey work continues shifting to technicians who both assess damage (tap test, thermography) and execute the scheme, the role owns a consequential structural call under ambiguity rather than following a layup schedule",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 4
      },
      {
        "dimension": "embodiment",
        "change": "Confined-space and at-height work — wind turbine blade repair in situ, tank interiors, hull bilges — where PPE, styrene exposure limits and unrepeatable geometry keep robotic layup uneconomic; more in-field repair share raises this",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 2
      }
    ],
    "ceiling_note": "No realistic route to trust premium: buyers specify laminate schedules and test results, not the hand that laid it. Even with every lever, the dominant threat is closed-mold process change and offshoring, which no institutional shield addresses — headcount per part falls regardless of who signs."
  },
  "adjudication": null,
  "employment_history": {
    "points": [
      {
        "y": 2019,
        "emp": 20010,
        "wage": 35480
      },
      {
        "y": 2020,
        "emp": 18800,
        "wage": 36950
      },
      {
        "y": 2021,
        "emp": 17380,
        "wage": 37650
      },
      {
        "y": 2022,
        "emp": 21910,
        "wage": 38110
      },
      {
        "y": 2023,
        "emp": 20380,
        "wage": 40200
      },
      {
        "y": 2024,
        "emp": 18520,
        "wage": 45760
      },
      {
        "y": 2025,
        "emp": 16170,
        "wage": 46880
      }
    ],
    "from": 2019,
    "to": 2025,
    "change_pct": -19.2,
    "comparable_from": 2019,
    "spans_soc_revision": false
  },
  "pivots": [
    {
      "slug": "brickmasons-and-blockmasons",
      "title": "Brickmasons and Blockmasons",
      "verdict": "SAFE",
      "risk_resistance": 68,
      "median_wage": 62120,
      "overlap": 68,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Operations Analysis",
        "Equipment Selection",
        "Mathematics"
      ]
    },
    {
      "slug": "glaziers",
      "title": "Glaziers",
      "verdict": "EXPOSED",
      "risk_resistance": 65,
      "median_wage": 57080,
      "overlap": 63,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Installation",
        "Operations Analysis"
      ]
    },
    {
      "slug": "riggers",
      "title": "Riggers",
      "verdict": "SAFE",
      "risk_resistance": 70,
      "median_wage": 62640,
      "overlap": 60,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Repairing",
        "Installation",
        "Operations Analysis",
        "Equipment Maintenance"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms"
}