← All 785 jobsFile 51-9196
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 3.6% fewer of these jobs by 2035.
- Rank
- Joint #685 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- -3.6% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $50,270 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 96,100 in the US, with about 9,000 openings a year
The work, 10 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
AI helps with this: Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance21%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 510 conversations, and it got them there 94% of the time.
Still yours: Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing16%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Position workpieces or materials on equipment16%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Monitor equipment operation13%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Inspect completed work or finished products12%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Disassemble equipment6%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Set up equipment5%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 511 conversations, and it got them there 95% of the time.
Still yours: Mark materials or objects for identification4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Remove workpieces from production equipment4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Cut materials4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 96 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
Even shrinking, it should still see about 9,000 openings a year as people retire or move on.
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
The jobs closest to this one. None of them is much less exposed.
- Shares 51% of the workWoodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders10% AI does, against 0% here-2.5% by 2035 · $43,380 · High school diploma
- Shares 50% of the workPourers and Casters, Metal0% AI does, against 0% here-5% by 2035 · $51,810 · High school diploma
- Shares 46% of the workCooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders0% AI does, against 0% here+5.9% by 2035 · $41,330 · High school diploma
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Work front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.09, higher than 30% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 51-9196 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
Check another job.
Know someone in this job? Send them the file.