• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Average salary of most AI-proof jobs revealed in Microsoft's top 40 list

Home> News> Technology

Published 14:09 1 Aug 2025 GMT+1

Average salary of most AI-proof jobs revealed in Microsoft's top 40 list

A job which is well paid and safe from robots? Count me in

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

Looking for a job which is both safe from robots and will pay enough to cover the bills? Well, you're in the right place.

The sheer explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) in the past couple of years has left most of us wondering what the future holds when it comes to employment.

In the not-so-distant past, joining the job market meant competing with your peers and neighbours.

Then, thanks to the creation of the internet, things got a whole load tougher as remote working allowed for a wider pool of applicants for every post - which means more 'We won't be taking your application any further' emails for young hopefuls desperate to make it onto the employment ladder.

Advert

It's only going to get worse from here, as we're no longer competing with other humans for jobs, but also with AI robots.

AI could have a lot of us looking like this in the near future (Getty Stock Image)
AI could have a lot of us looking like this in the near future (Getty Stock Image)

And unlike humans - who need time to eat, sleep and get sad without sufficient downtime - AI can just keep ticking over for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Fortunately, it's not bad news for all of us, as there are certain jobs which AI simply cannot do at the moment, with a recently released list from Microsoft revealing that phlebotomists, embalmers and manual labourers can sleep soundly at night.

Top of the list is something called a 'dredge operator' which involves removing sand, gravel or sediment to maintain waterways, with the rest of the list being made up of manual labourers with specialist training and hospital orderlies.

Advert

You can see the full list of 40 most and least at risk jobs, as well as the method which Microsoft used to work this out here or take a look at the table, which is in reverse order, below.

The Top 40 AI safe jobs, in reverse order (Reddit)
The Top 40 AI safe jobs, in reverse order (Reddit)

But before you rush down to your local job centre, it might make sense to check out the average salary for each of the above jobs. As there's no point retraining in a role which can't keep a roof over your head.

Average salary of most 'AI-proof jobs' revealed

According to numerous salary estimates from the UK and the US, your best shot at making money and surviving the AI jobs revolution is to be a pile driver operator. A job which requires the ability to competently operate heavy machinery, this role could earn you an average of £45k (or $79k) each year.

Advert

Meanwhile, bridge and lock tenders, logging equipment operators and rail maintenance workers are also pretty decent options.

Take a look at the 'Top 10 safest AI jobs' - and the annual median salary* in the US and UK below:

  • Dredge operators - £30.4k ($47k)
  • Bridge & lock tenders - £32,4k ($53,6k)
  • Water treatment plant & system operators - £25.9k ($56k)
  • Foundry mold & coremakers - £26.5k ($28.7k)
  • Rail-Track laying & maintenance equip. operators - £30.5k ($70.6k)
  • Pile driver operators - £45k ($79k)
  • Floor sanders & finishers - £22.3k ($16.31 p/h)
  • Orderlies - £24.3k ($30.2k)
  • Motorboat operators - £34.8k ($36.9k)
  • Logging equipment operators - £30.5k ($45.5k)

*Depending on location and experience.

According to Microsoft, we need to learn how to operate a pile driver (Getty Stock Image)
According to Microsoft, we need to learn how to operate a pile driver (Getty Stock Image)

Advert

Meanwhile, the jobs most at threat from AI include: translators, writers, data scientists and most customer service jobs.

Perhaps something to remember whenever you're relying on ChatGPT to complete day-to-day tasks.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image

Topics: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Jobs, Money

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

X

@_brencoco

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
10 hours ago
11 hours ago
12 hours ago
  • Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Images
    9 hours ago

    Investigator gives update on items discovered in D4vd’s house after 15-year-old's body found in his Tesla

    Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body was found in the boot of a vehicle belonging to the singer in September

    News
  • John Keeble/Getty Images
    10 hours ago

    Brian Cox hits out at 'alien spaceship' theories as he shares 'reliable' sources

    The science pro is not on board with the 'drivel'

    News
  • SWNS
    11 hours ago

    Mum's misdiagnosed symptoms turned out to be signs of life-threatening brain tumour

    The mum had been having the symptoms for a year before

    News
  • Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed/Anadolu via Getty Images
    12 hours ago

    Campaigners' dire warning for two orcas 'left for dead' in abandoned marine park as new heartbreaking video goes viral

    Mother and son Wikie and Keijo remain trapped at the now-defunct Marineland of Antibes - and 'time is running out'

    News
  • ‘Godfather of AI’ shares terrifying chances that humanity could be replaced by AI
  • ChatGPT boss issues warning for anyone using AI as a form of 'therapy'
  • ‘Godfather of AI’ shared chilling warning to world after winning Nobel prize
  • Full list of AI-proof jobs that robots are less likely to take from humans