Riggers
What Riggers Do
Set up or repair rigging for construction projects, manufacturing plants, logging yards, ships and shipyards, or for the entertainment industry.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- Not available
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Mechanicalimportance 3.7/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.6/5
- Production and Processingimportance 3.6/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.5/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.4/5
- Designimportance 3.3/5
- English Languageimportance 3.3/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 3.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets5.0/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.8/5
- Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures4.7/5
- Time Pressure4.6/5
- Contact With Others4.6/5
- Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions4.6/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Commercial Divers94% skill match
- Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic93% skill match
- Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic93% skill match
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators93% skill match
- Boilermakers93% skill match
- Sheet Metal Workers92% skill match
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers92% skill match
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining92% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Operation and Controlimportance 3.3/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
- Operations Monitoringimportance 3.1/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.0/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
- Equipment Selectionimportance 2.9/5
- Troubleshootingimportance 2.9/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Cautiousness
- Attention to Detail
- Stress Tolerance
- Integrity
- Perseverance
- Self-Control
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- InvestigativeLow
- EnterprisingLow
- ArtisticLow
- SocialLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where riggers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA41.82× national avg
- 2Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA34.33× national avg
- 3Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC12.22× national avg
- 4Midland, TX10.76× national avg
- 5Lafayette, LA10.56× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Crane and Tower OperatorsCareer Change
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and RepairersLateral Move
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface MiningCareer Change
- Sheet Metal WorkersCareer Change