Despite estimates that automation is set to perform about half the tasks done by the U.S. craft workforce, workers are still critical to technology on jobsites and efforts are growing to boost their skill sets to master tools from drones to virtual reality, says a new study.

In a February report, the Midwest Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois say that automation could displace or replace 2.7 million U.S. craftworkers by 2057 and that the trend could cut labor income by $127.5 billion, in current dollars. The projections are based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and on a study by consultant McKinsey & Co. that 49% of construction tasks, on average, can be done by a robot.