Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers
51-2022.00
Bright Outlook Updated 2024

Assemble or modify electrical or electronic equipment, such as computers, test equipment telemetering systems, electric motors, and batteries.

Sample of reported job titles: Assembler, Assembly Worker, Electrical Assembler, Electronic Assembler, Electronics Assembler, Factory Assembler, Manufacturing Assembler, Transformer Assembler

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Read and interpret schematic drawings, diagrams, blueprints, specifications, work orders, or reports to determine materials requirements or assembly instructions.
  • Assemble electrical or electronic systems or support structures and install components, units, subassemblies, wiring, or assembly casings, using rivets, bolts, soldering or micro-welding equipment.
  • Adjust, repair, or replace electrical or electronic components to correct defects and to ensure conformance to specifications.
  • Position, align, or adjust workpieces or electrical parts to facilitate wiring or assembly.
  • Explain assembly procedures or techniques to other workers.
  • Clean parts, using cleaning solutions, air hoses, and cloths.
  • Drill or tap holes in specified equipment locations to mount control units or to provide openings for elements, wiring, or instruments.
  • Fabricate or form parts, coils, or structures according to specifications, using drills, calipers, cutters, or saws.
  • Confer with supervisors or engineers to plan or review work activities or to resolve production problems.
  • Inspect or test wiring installations, assemblies, or circuits for resistance factors or for operation, and record results.
  • Mark and tag components so that stock inventory can be tracked and identified.
  • Measure and adjust voltages to specified values to determine operational accuracy of instruments.
  • Complete, review, or maintain production, time, or component waste reports.
  • Distribute materials, supplies, or subassemblies to work areas.
  • Pack finished assemblies for shipment, and transport them to storage areas, using hoists or handtrucks.
  • Instruct customers in the installation, repair, or maintenance of products.
Find occupations related to multiple tasks

Technology Skills

Hot technology
Hot Technologies are requirements most frequently included across all employer job postings.

Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
  • Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
  • Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
  • Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
  • Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
  • Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment — Providing documentation, detailed instructions, drawings, or specifications to tell others about how devices, parts, equipment, or structures are to be fabricated, constructed, assembled, modified, maintained, or used.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.

Detailed Work Activities

Find occupations related to multiple detailed work activities

Work Context

  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 80% responded “Every day.”
  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 80% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 70% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Time Pressure — 62% responded “Every day.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 49% responded “Very important.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 46% responded “Every day.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 39% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 51% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 39% responded “Very important.”
  • Coordinate or Lead Others — 33% responded “Very important.”
  • Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 31% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Structured versus Unstructured Work — 41% responded “A lot of freedom.”
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 33% responded “High responsibility.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 74% responded “40 hours.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 28% responded “Important results.”
  • Exposed to Contaminants — 40% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Sitting — 31% responded “Less than half the time.”
  • Contact With Others — 39% responded “Contact with others most of the time.”
  • Physical Proximity — 51% responded “Moderately close (at arm's length).”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 32% responded “Once a year or more but not every month.”
  • Exposed to Hazardous Conditions — 35% responded “Every day.”
  • Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable — 31% responded “Every day.”
  • Level of Competition — 23% responded “Moderately competitive.”
  • Consequence of Error — 33% responded “Serious.”
  • Frequency of Conflict Situations — 34% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Spend Time Standing — 25% responded “More than half the time.”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Education
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Related Experience
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include orderlies, counter and rental clerks, customer service representatives, security guards, upholsterers, tellers, and dental laboratory technicians.
SVP Range
(4.0 to < 6.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications
Find certifications nationwide

Apprenticeship Opportunities

Example apprenticeship titles for this occupation:

  • Electric Sign Assembler
  • Wirer (Office Machines)

Specific title(s) listed above are vetted by industry and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor for use in a Registered Apprenticeship Program.

Start your career and build your skillset. Visit Apprenticeship.gov to learn about opportunities related to this occupation.

Worker Requirements

Skills

  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Operations Monitoring — Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
  • Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Knowledge

No knowledge met the minimum score.

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • 55%
     
    High school diploma or equivalent required
  • 25%
     
    Less than high school diploma required
  • 12%
     
    Some college, no degree required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Finger Dexterity — The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness — The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Manual Dexterity — The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Visualization — The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Control Precision — The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Multilimb Coordination — The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Visual Color Discrimination — The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.

Interests

Interest code: RCI
Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.
  • Realistic — Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.
  • Conventional — Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.
  • Investigative — Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.

Work Values

  • Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
  • Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
  • Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Work Styles

  • Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
  • Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  • Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  • Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  • Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
  • Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  • Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  • Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  • Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
  • Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  • Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
  • Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
  • Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
  • Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wage data for Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers.
Employment data for Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers.
Industry data for Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers.
Median wages (2023)
$19.47 hourly, $40,490 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2023)
271,100 employees
Projected growth (2023-2033)
Faster than average (6% to 8%)
Projected job openings (2023-2033)
31,500
State trends
Top industries (2023)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023 wage data and 2023-2033 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2023-2033). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
Local job openings

More Information

Professional Associations

Disclaimer: Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries. Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.

National Associations