Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 52% 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 -3.4% 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)
- $44,350
- Job growth to 2035
- -3.4%
- Openings a year
- 13,800
- People doing it (2025)
- 150,000
- 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
- Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Position workpieces or materials on equipment
- Monitor equipment operation
- Remove workpieces from production equipment
What the work looks like
- Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
- Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary.
- Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.
- Turn valves and dials of machines to regulate pressure, temperature, and speed and feed rates, and to set cycle times.
- Read specifications, blueprints, and work orders to determine setups, temperatures, and time settings required to mold, form, or cast plastic materials, as well as to plan production sequences.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as more processes can be performed by programmed machinery and improvements in software and equipment are expected to increase efficiency, allowing more output to be produced with the same amount of labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Ophthalmic laboratory techniciansHuman edge, steady, Index 68, +2.2%
- Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 78, +2.5%
- Tire buildersHuman edge, steady, Index 75, +0.8%
- Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, woodHuman edge, steady, Index 57, -1.0%
Also known as: Machine Operator, Molder, Process Technician, Production Technician, Core Machine Operator, Die Cast Technician, Diecast Machine Operator, Mold 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.