Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other
All metal workers and plastic workers not listed separately.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 37% 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 -7.1% 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)
- $45,950
- Job growth to 2035
- -7.1%
- Openings a year
- 1,300
- People doing it (2025)
- 16,300
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as the tasks of these machine operators are supplanted by programmable computer-controlled machinery, requiring fewer of these workers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Food processing workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +5.5%
- Production workers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 79, +0.8%
- Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishersHuman edge, growing, Index 73, +5.0%
- Woodworkers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 55, -2.3%
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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.