Career Explorer Production
Human edge, growing
Chemical equipment operators and tenders
Operate or tend equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. Equipment used includes devulcanizers, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 74% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by +3.6% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $58,040
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.6%
- Openings a year
- 13,900
- People doing it (2025)
- 141,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Maintain safety or security
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Operate industrial processing or production equipment
- Monitor equipment operation
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
What the work looks like
- Observe safety precautions to prevent fires or explosions.
- Patrol work areas to detect leaks or equipment malfunctions or to monitor operating conditions.
- Monitor gauges, recording instruments, flowmeters, or products to ensure that specified conditions are maintained.
- Inspect equipment or units to detect leaks or malfunctions, shutting equipment down, if necessary.
- Record operational data, such as temperatures, pressures, ingredients used, processing times, or test results.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Food batchmakersHuman edge, growing, Index 85, +6.5%
- Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.9%
- Packaging and filling machine operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +4.1%
- Signal and track switch repairersHuman edge, steady, Index 78, +1.8%
Also known as: Chemical Operator (Chemical Tech), Chlorination Operator, Multiskill Operator, Outside Operator, Chemical Process Operator, Chemical Reactor Operator, Process Equipment Operator, Process Operator.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.