As of June 2026, Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic has an AI-exposure score of 50/100 (Elevated 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.
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
More exposed than 33% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$52,800. About 1,100 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
- Record production output.
- Turn valves or pull levers to start and regulate the flow of coolant or lubricant to work areas.
- Select cutting speeds, feed rates, and depths of cuts, applying knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
- Select and install cutting tools and other accessories according to specifications, using hand tools or power tools.
- Move controls to set cutting specifications, to position cutting tools and workpieces in relation to each other, and to start machines.
- Observe milling or planing machine operation, and adjust controls to ensure conformance with specified tolerances.
- Study blueprints, layouts, sketches, or work orders to assess workpiece specifications and to determine tooling instructions, tools and materials needed, and sequences of operations.
- Compute dimensions, tolerances, and angles of workpieces or machines according to specifications and knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
- Move cutters or material manually or by turning handwheels, or engage automatic feeding mechanisms to mill workpieces to specifications.
- Mount attachments and tools, such as pantographs, engravers, or routers, to perform other operations, such as drilling or boring.
- Remove workpieces from machines, and check to ensure that they conform to specifications, using measuring instruments such as microscopes, gauges, calipers, and micrometers.
- Replace worn tools, using hand tools, and sharpen dull tools, using bench grinders.
- Position and secure workpieces on machines, using holding devices, measuring instruments, hand tools, and hoists.
- Make templates or cutting tools.
- Verify alignment of workpieces on machines, using measuring instruments such as rules, gauges, or calipers.
No durable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (93%).
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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