Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Set up, operate, or tend machines to roll steel or plastic forming bends, beads, knurls, rolls, or plate, or to flatten, temper, or reduce gauge of material.
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 moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -8.3% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on physical dexterity and ethical judgement.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $50,140
- Job growth to 2035
- -8.3%
- Openings a year
- 1,900
- People doing it (2025)
- 25,300
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Set up equipment
- 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
- Operate industrial processing or production equipment
- Monitor equipment operation
- Position workpieces or materials on equipment
What the work looks like
- Monitor machine cycles and mill operation to detect jamming and to ensure that products conform to specifications.
- Adjust and correct machine set-ups to reduce thicknesses, reshape products, and eliminate product defects.
- Start operation of rolling and milling machines to flatten, temper, form, and reduce sheet metal sections and to produce steel strips.
- Examine, inspect, and measure raw materials and finished products to verify conformance to specifications.
- Read rolling orders, blueprints, and mill schedules to determine setup specifications, work sequences, product dimensions, and installation procedures.
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
- Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.9%
- Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 52, -6.1%
- Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workersHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +5.3%
- Cement masons and concrete finishersHuman edge, steady, Index 78, +1.6%
Also known as: Mill Operator, Rolling Mill Operator, Roughing Mill Operator, Tube Mill Operator, Breakdown Mill Operator, Calender Operator, Cold Mill Operator, Machine 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.