Career Explorer Production
Human edge, growing
Food batchmakers
Set up and operate equipment that mixes or blends ingredients used in the manufacturing of food products. Includes candy makers and cheese makers.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 85% 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 +6.5% by 2035, faster than average.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $42,290
- Job growth to 2035
- +6.5%
- Openings a year
- 23,100
- People doing it (2025)
- 177,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Determine operational methods or procedures
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Operate industrial processing or production equipment
- Inspect completed work or finished products
- Monitor equipment operation
What the work looks like
- Record production and test data for each food product batch, such as the ingredients used, temperature, test results, and time cycle.
- Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas.
- Test food product samples for moisture content, acidity level, specific gravity, or butter-fat content, and continue processing until desired levels are reached.
- Set up, operate, and tend equipment that cooks, mixes, blends, or processes ingredients in the manufacturing of food products, according to formulas or recipes.
- Mix or blend ingredients, according to recipes, using a paddle or an agitator, or by controlling vats that heat and mix ingredients.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as a variety of new baked goods are produced to meet increasing demand for convenient food.
- More of these jobs, as a variety of new frozen, dried, and preserved goods are produced to meet increasing demand for convenient food.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Packaging and filling machine operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +4.1%
- Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.9%
- Food processing workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +5.5%
- Fiberglass laminators and fabricatorsHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +4.6%
Also known as: Batching Operator, Blender, Mixer, Mixer Operator, Brewing Technician, Compounder, Dosier Operator, Dough Scaler.
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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.