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Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Cutters and Trimmers, Hand and Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$38,800
$45,590
Employment · BLS OEWS
7,070
174,430
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
12th pct
23rd pct

At a glance

Dimension Cutters and Trimmers, Hand Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay $38,800 $45,590
Employment 7,070 174,430
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-18.1%) Declining (-12.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 600 14,400
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 12th pct Low · 23rd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 26th pct · 18% of tasks 26th pct · 18% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — Automation-leaning (48.4%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Manual Dexterity, Near Vision, Production and Processing, Information Ordering, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Oral Comprehension, Control Precision, Static Strength, Speech Recognition, Active Listening, Speaking, Oral Expression, Selective Attention, Finger Dexterity, Multilimb Coordination, Speech Clarity, Reading Comprehension, Monitoring, Judgment and Decision Making, Written Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Trunk Strength, Far Vision, Critical Thinking, Inductive Reasoning, Perceptual Speed, Visualization, Reaction Time, Flexibility of Closure, Rate Control, Coordination.

Specific to Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

  • Category Flexibility
  • Time Management
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Mathematics
  • Extent Flexibility
  • Service Orientation

Specific to Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Operations Monitoring
  • Operation and Control
  • Troubleshooting
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Depth Perception
  • Mechanical
  • English Language
  • Active Learning

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Electronic mail software , Word processing software .

Specific to Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

    Specific to Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand or Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

    More comparisons

    Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

    Sources for this page

    Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

    Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

    Cite this page
    Plain

    Singulariki. "Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/cutters-and-trimmers-hand-vs-cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/cutters-and-trimmers-hand-vs-cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-cutters-and-trimmers-hand-vs-cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic,
  title  = {Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/cutters-and-trimmers-hand-vs-cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic}
}

    Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.