Human edge, steady

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

Set up, operate, or tend machines that knit, loop, weave, or draw in textiles.

AI Resistance Index 23 of 99

Changing faster than most: more resilient than 23% 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 -13.7% 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): $39,530
Job growth to 2035: -13.7%
Openings a year: 1,300
People doing it (2025): 13,900
Usual route in: High school diploma, then short on-the-job training

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Where people already use AI for this work

Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
Set up equipment
Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Operate cutting or grinding equipment
Inspect completed work or finished products
Position workpieces or materials on equipment

What the work looks like

Observe woven cloth to detect weaving defects.
Thread yarn, thread, and fabric through guides, needles, and rollers of machines for weaving, knitting, or other processing.
Remove defects in cloth by cutting and pulling out filling.
Examine looms to determine causes of loom stoppage, such as warp filling, harness breaks, or mechanical defects.
Inspect products to ensure that specifications are met and to determine if machines need adjustment.

From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects

Fewer of these jobs, as new technology allows textile knitting to become automated through the use of 3D garment knitting.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

Tool grinders, filers, and sharpenersHuman edge, steady, Index 44, -6.8%
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plasticHuman edge, steady, Index 30, -10.8%
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plasticHuman edge, steady, Index 52, -3.4%
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materialsHuman edge, steady, Index 41, -15.7%

Also known as: Knitter, Machine Operator, Tufting Operator, Weaver, Knitting Machine Operator, Loom Fixer, Operator, Tufting 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.