Spring-based shoulder support promises relief for overhead work and extra energy at day’s end. But wall and ceiling industry adoption remains slow.
Where are the exoskeletons? AWCI’s Construction Dimensions asked that in May 2019, when an InSync column imagined drywallers wearing “exo-suits” with comic-book swagger—channeling Iron Man, Bumblebee or Ellen Ripley of Aliens.
“They’ll feel full of power and command control,” wrote the columnist, “as they rock gypsum board runs all day long.”
Reality evolved.
“The once bulky, mechanical suits have transitioned to smaller wearables that respond better to the worker’s movement using springs and hydraulics,” noted the Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry in its December 2020 paper, “Technology Impact on the Means and Methods of Wall and Ceiling Construction.”
Alas, broad adoption hasn’t arrived. Designs have simplified and targeted specific tasks—especially overhead work—yet most wall and ceiling firms remain in wait-and-see mode. Contractors are piloting shoulder-assist devices for soffits and ceilings, manufacturers are refining fit, and researchers are measuring real reductions in shoulder load. But day-in, day-out use in the wall and ceiling industry is still the exception—not the rule.
Trials Over Rollouts for Now
Shawn Burnum, senior vice president of operations at Performance Contracting, Inc. (PCI) in Kansas and past president of the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2021–2022), says exoskeletons have moved from curiosity to credible aid for certain wall and ceiling tasks—but they are not yet everyday gear.
“We’ve been using them, testing them since they came on the market,” he says, adding that PCI has tried “a variety of different ones” and continues to invest time and provide feedback to manufacturers because it is “a neat technology.”
Where exoskeletons help most is clear. “They’re good if your arms are above your head for long periods of time, like power sanding,” says Burnum.
Drywall ceilings, plastering and other sustained arms-up operations fit that bill. Trouble comes when the worker’s task mix changes from minute to minute. “It’s the arm motion up and down —like drywalling a ceiling—that’s been the challenge,” Burnum says.
These wearables are ideal for crews who keep their hands overhead for long stretches, he says. But “if they’re coming up and down a lot,” he notes, the device slows them down. Crews still have the last word, even as designs improve.
“They were clunky,” says Burnum of early models, noting they have “improved a great deal.” But he himself hasn’t seen a unit in action in about a year and a half.
Many contractors report little to no firsthand use.
“Don’t know much about them, nor have we used them or been asked to,” says Lee R. Zaretzky, president of RONSCO, Inc., New York, in an email.
“Minimal experience with various models to date,” adds John Hinson, president of branch operations at MAREK in Dallas, also by email.
That may change.
The Business Case: Workforce Health
Rana Sadiq, public relations manager at Hilti North America, says in an email that exoskeletons are moving beyond pilots into steady use with contractors that run large crews on repetitive overhead work. Wall and ceiling firms are a company focus, she says. Hilti is targeting its EXO-S shoulder exoskeleton for the tasks of fastening gypsum board and finishing and sanding overhead.
“Workers report noticeably less shoulder and neck fatigue, which means they can finish their shifts with more energy and less pain,” Sadiq says.
“We wouldn’t be able to work more than three days a week without this product, knowing that on our jobs the board is 200 lbs a sheet,” says Marco Sgotto, president of Downsview Drywall Contracting in Ontario, Canada. “It’s allowed people to be able to work a full day and still have enough energy to go home and play with their kids.”
Clearly, the business case for exoskeletons is workforce health. They reduce musculoskeletal strain and align naturally with contractor safety programs. The Hilti EXO-S, Sadiq says, “pays back in healthier crews, fewer disruptions and an easier time attracting and retaining talent.”
She adds: “Many safety leaders view them as part of a proactive ergonomics strategy, similar to dust control or vibration reduction, that directly supports injury prevention goals.”
What does science say?
Relief for the Shoulder and Back
The multi-year study “Evaluation of Trunk and Arm Support Exoskeletons for Construction (Completed 2019–2024)” from CPWR—the Center for Construction Research and Training—puts a clear emphasis on passive devices—the spring-based shoulder and back supports that don’t need batteries. Passive device exoskeletons are lighter, simpler and more cost-effective. That makes adopting them more likely on active jobsites.
Methodologically, CPWR ran a mixed-methods program to capture worker and stakeholder views and quantify benefits and risks. Its review of exoskeletons over this five-year period addressed training, comfort and task interference. The effort produced peer-reviewed outputs on the usability of these devices. Overall, the study gives safety teams credible reference points for evaluating shoulder or trunk support for overhead tasks.
The conclusion: If you’re going to test exoskeletons, passive shoulder or back supports are the natural starting point for arms-up work like hanging board to ceilings or sustained overhead fastening.
Data from More Studies
But there’s more science to report. Lab evidence now quantifies the shoulder relief many crews experience.
A 2024 Scientific Reports paper on Nature.com reveals the test results of a passive, upper-limb exoskeleton during repetitive arm flexion and extension processes. This is known as “muscle coactivation.” Muscles normally work together, or coactivate, to facilitate a broad range of movement. When excessive, however, muscle coactivation can become detrimental. The study evaluated a spring-loaded exoskeleton and found promising results. The “coactivation levels linearly decreased”—a drop of 51% at peak, 54% on average—as anti-gravitational support from the exoskeleton increased. That matters because coactivation contributes to joint load and fatigue during arms-up tasks like hanging board or overhead fastening and finishing.
A 2025 Danish study—“Technical field-evaluation of exoskeleton-assisted overhead work among carpenters” in Applied Ergonomics—collected live field data. Researchers recorded muscle activity of the subjects wirelessly using surface electromyography. The study found peak shoulder and forearm activity dropped with exoskeleton use. True, lower-back activity rose slightly. But most carpenters said they would use the devices in future work.
Lessons: Use shoulder support where the job truly lives overhead, but not as an all-day solution. Expect measurable reductions in shoulder load and watch to see where workers compensate for loads elsewhere in their bodies.
Zeroing In on Drywallers
Are wall and ceiling tasks mentioned in the research? Yes.
A 2025 CPWR report on exoskeletons—“Virtual Boundaries: Investigating the Ethical and Social Risks of Exoskeletons in the Construction Industry”—mentions drywallers and plasterers among other trades. The researchers reviewed literature on exoskeletons, surveyed construction experts and built a practical guide aimed at job-ready implementation. The research process identified 34 ethical and social risks related to exoskeletons, several important for construction —such as, worker autonomy, dehumanization, stigmatization, affordability and accessibility.
The results: “Inaccessibility” and “unaffordability” ranked among the most critical barriers to adoption. Device weight was also a barrier. But the overall takeaway was positive.
“Back-support exoskeletons are most suitable for trades such as plumbers and carpenters,” the “Virtual Boundaries” summary report says. “And shoulder-support exoskeletons were recommended most often for carpenters, drywallers, electricians, HVAC technicians and plasterers.”
Thus, the conclusions match what wall and ceiling executives also report: Shoulder relief for crews who work on ceilings is the sweet spot. Exoskeletons are task-specific aids, not blanket solutions. So, start where the evidence points—overhead work—and build policies that prioritize worker choice.
Bag and Belt Interference
Burnum notes one persistent issue with exoskeletons: PCI crews often raise concerns that the shoulder-support units “rode at the belt line,” he says. They’d like to know how to better “terminate them” at the waist so they don’t interfere with “the bags they like to wear.”
He says that vendors have supplied some units to trial in exchange for field feedback. PCI bought others outright. They’re tools for specific cases, not the daily kits, Burnum adds. PCI doesn’t stage exoskeletons in every gang box—it stores them centrally and dispatches them when a superintendent calls.
“Are we using them? Yes,” Burnum says. “Are they probably a secondary thought at this point? Still, yes.”
The problem is often opinion. Some field leaders who tried early exoskeletons have said, “I tried one five years ago, and I didn’t like it.” The key today, Burnum says, is to inform the crews that the products are different. PCI can try to drive their use from the top, but experience shows that any new tool must be proven onsite.
“Right now, it’s not coming from the field,” Burnum says. The company’s safety group and innovations team “incorporate new technologies, request demo units, beat them up a little and run a vetting process with manufacturers,” he says.
That top-down push points to the near-term play. The next step: Run disciplined trials that track fit and task productivity—the kind of evidence that can move these tools from secondary to standard deployment.
Where to Put Your Investment
Dan Wies, president of Wies Drywall and Construction Corp. in Missouri, says exoskeletons remain a niche tool. He says they show up more in other trades than in wall and ceiling work.
You see them a lot more with the mechanical, engineering and plumbing (MEP) guys who drill anchors all day,” he says. “For us, it’s nothing in drywall hanging to just get an extra person to help you.”
In other words, exoskeletons compete with human muscle. Sure, Wies wants his team to reduce strain and injury. But he wants to limit the gear workers have to wear.
“I’m trying to free our people to wear less stuff,” he says.
For Wies, real value comes from studying workflows and processes to make “practical gains.” “Maybe we could move a pile two feet closer and save steps, which are repeated many times a day,” he says.
Wies believes crews can accomplish more without wearing sensors or entering more data. Privacy is part of the calculation. “They really don’t want wearables tracking them,” he says.
Of course, Wies remains open to more evidence. If the task truly lives overhead—like drilling anchors all day—exoskeletons have some appeal. But given drywall’s varied, stop-start pace, he and others question whether they belong in operations for now. CD
Mark L. Johnson writes regularly about the wall and ceiling industry. You can reach him at linkedin.com/in/markjohnsoncommunications.
