Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · Holland code RIC
Commercial Divers
Work below surface of water, using surface-supplied air or scuba equipment to inspect, repair, remove, or install equipment and structures. May use a variety of power and hand tools, such as drills, sledgehammers, torches, and welding equipment. May conduct tests or experiments, rig explosives, or photograph structures or marine life.
Also called: Diver, Diver Tender, Salvage Diver, Saturation Diver, Diving Coordinator, Hard Hat Diver, NDT UW Welder (Non Destructive Testing Under Water Welder).
O*NET 49-9092.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $72,990
- Middle half earn $54,810 to $101,550. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.
- Take appropriate safety precautions, such as monitoring dive lengths and depths and registering with authorities before diving expeditions begin.
- Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.
- Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.
- Inspect and test docks, ships, buoyage systems, plant intakes or outflows, or underwater pipelines, cables, or sewers, using closed circuit television, still photography, and testing equipment.
- Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.
- Inspect the condition of underwater steel or wood structures.
- Operate underwater video, sonar, recording, or related equipment to investigate underwater structures or marine life.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.6 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.6 / 5
- Speaking3.5 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
- Writing3.0 / 5
- Active Learning3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical4.6 / 5
- Building and Construction4.1 / 5
- Public Safety and Security3.8 / 5
- Physics3.7 / 5
- Design3.5 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic100
- Investigative43
- Artistic6
- Social2
- Enterprising11
- Conventional35
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- corrosion technician · DE Korrosionsschutztechniker/Korrosionsschutztechnikerin · FR technicien corrosion/technicienne corrosion
- underwater construction supervisor · DE Bauleiter Unterwasserarbeiten/Bauleiterin Unterwasserarbeiten · FR superviseur en construction subaquatique/superviseuse en construction subaquatique
- life guard · DE Rettungsschwimmer/Rettungsschwimmerin · FR sauveteur/sauveteuse
- boat rigger · DE Takler/Taklerin · FR accastilleur/accastilleuse
- ground rigger · DE Veranstaltungsrigger für Arbeiten am Boden/Veranstaltungsriggerin für Arbeiten am Boden · FR monteur au sol/monteuse au sol
- high rigger · DE Veranstaltungsrigger/Veranstaltungsriggerin · FR cordiste
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Police community support officers (6311)11,800 employed
- Construction and building trades supervisors (5330)53,100 employed
- Building and civil engineering technicians (3114)20,100 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €40,086 |
| Germany | €38,638 |
| Austria | €38,194 |
| Sweden | €37,856 |
| Netherlands | €37,077 |
| Ireland | €36,098 |
| France | €27,145 |
| Italy | €26,488 |
| Spain | €22,817 |
| Portugal | €11,142 |
| Poland | €10,099 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.10. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (49-9092).
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