Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Set up, operate, or tend drilling machines to drill, bore, ream, mill, or countersink metal or plastic work pieces.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 46% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by -9.5% by 2035, expected to shrink. 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)
- $49,080
- Job growth to 2035
- -9.5%
- Openings a year
- 400
- People doing it (2025)
- 4,700
- 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
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Position materials or components for assembly
- Position workpieces or materials on equipment
- Drill holes in earth or materials
What the work looks like
- Verify conformance of machined work to specifications, using measuring instruments, such as calipers, micrometers, or fixed or telescoping gauges.
- Study machining instructions, job orders, or blueprints to determine dimensional or finish specifications, sequences of operations, setups, or tooling requirements.
- Move machine controls to lower tools to workpieces and to engage automatic feeds.
- Verify that workpiece reference lines are parallel to the axis of table rotation, using dial indicators mounted in spindles.
- Establish zero reference points on workpieces, such as at the intersections of two edges or over hole locations.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as manufacturers are expected to use more CNC, automated, and programmable machines to perform some functions or tasks previously done by these workers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibersHuman edge, steady, Index 56, -3.3%
- Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 47, -5.7%
- Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 65, +1.5%
- MachinistsHuman edge, steady, Index 52, +1.0%
Also known as: CNC Machinist (Computer Numerical Control Machinist), Drill Operator, Drill Setup Operator, Machine Operator, Bore Mill Operator, CNC Drilling Operator (Computer Numerical Control Drilling Operator), Drill Press Operator, Punch 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.