Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders
Operate or tend machines to wash or clean products, such as barrels or kegs, glass items, tin plate, food, pulp, coal, plastic, or rubber, to remove impurities.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 76% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +3.4% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $43,530
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.4%
- Openings a year
- 1,700
- People doing it (2025)
- 16,200
- 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
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Apply protective solutions or coatings
- Operate pumping systems or equipment
What the work looks like
- Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
- Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
- Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.
- Draw samples for laboratory analysis, or test solutions for conformance to specifications, such as acidity or specific gravity.
- Adjust, clean, and lubricate mechanical parts of machines, using hand tools and grease guns.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Cleaners of vehicles and equipmentHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +3.9%
- Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 78, +2.5%
- Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmersHuman edge, growing, Index 88, +5.7%
- Fence erectorsHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +5.6%
Also known as: Clean in Places Operator (CIP Operator), Sanitation Technician, Sanitation Worker, Sanitizer, Anodizer, Filler Operator, Parts Cleaner, Tub Wash 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.