As of June 2026, Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic has an AI-exposure score of 46/100 (Moderate exposure) on the AI-Safe Careers index, blending O*NET tasks, the Anthropic Economic Index, the Penn/OpenAI study, and BLS data. This is an estimate of task exposure, not a prediction of job loss.
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
More exposed than 23% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$46,330. About 14,400 projected openings a year (BLS 2024–34 — growth plus replacement).
Pay & demand figures are US medians (BLS, in USD) — your local figures will differ. Your exposure score applies broadly.
How you compare to similar Production roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
No automatable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (100%).
- Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data.
- Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
- Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances.
- Plan sequences of operations, applying knowledge of physical properties of workpiece materials.
- Test and adjust machine speeds or actions, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools.
- Load workpieces, plastic material, or chemical solutions into machines.
- Clean and lubricate machines.
- Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.
- Clean work area.
- Set stops on machine beds, change dies, and adjust components, such as rams or power presses, when making multiple or successive passes.
- Install, align, and lock specified punches, dies, cutting blades, or other fixtures in rams or beds of machines, using gauges, templates, feelers, shims, and hand tools.
- Position guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct workpieces, using hand tools and measuring devices.
- Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.
- Adjust ram strokes of presses to specified lengths, using hand tools.
- Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
- Mark identifying data on workpieces.
- Scribe reference lines on workpieces as guides for cutting operations, according to blueprints, templates, sample parts, or specifications.
- Operate forklifts to deliver materials.
- Lubricate workpieces with oil.
- Position, align, and secure workpieces against fixtures or stops on machine beds or on dies.
No durable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (100%).
Safer adjacent roles
Your AI-Safe Career Report
Every task scored with what to do about it · 5–10 safer roles with salary, demand & reachability · skill-gap map · a 30/60/90-day roadmap · plus a résumé & LinkedIn rewrite · PDF.
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Workers with AI skills earn a roughly 62% wage premium — adapting pays. — PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer, 2026
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