Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Set up, operate, or tend lathe and turning machines to turn, bore, thread, form, or face metal or plastic materials, such as wire, rod, or bar stock.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 29% 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 -11.3% 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)
- $50,620
- Job growth to 2035
- -11.3%
- Openings a year
- 1,400
- People doing it (2025)
- 16,700
- 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
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Position workpieces or materials on equipment
- Operate cutting or grinding equipment
- Operate industrial processing or production equipment
What the work looks like
- Adjust machine controls and change tool settings to keep dimensions within specified tolerances.
- Move controls to set cutting speeds and depths and feed rates, and to position tools in relation to workpieces.
- Study blueprints, layouts or charts, and job orders for information on specifications and tooling instructions, and to determine material requirements and operational sequences.
- Inspect sample workpieces to verify conformance with specifications, using instruments such as gauges, micrometers, and dial indicators.
- Replace worn tools, and sharpen dull cutting tools and dies, using bench grinders or cutter-grinding machines.
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 machinery to perform some functions or tasks previously done by these workers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Fiberglass laminators and fabricatorsHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +4.6%
- Structural metal fabricators and fittersHuman edge, steady, Index 54, -6.2%
- Shoe machine operators and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 50, -6.9%
- Shoe and leather workers and repairersHuman edge, steady, Index 54, -6.5%
Also known as: CNC Lathe Operator (Computer Numerical Control Lathe Operator), Lathe Operator, Machine Operator, Setup Operator, CNC Setup Operator (Computer Numerical Control Setup Operator), Numerical Control Operator (NC Operator), Screw Machine Operator, Screw Machine Tool Setter.
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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.