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Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic vs Lathe and Turning Machine Tool 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 Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic and Lathe and Turning Machine Tool 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.”

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$45,590
$48,620
Employment · BLS OEWS
174,430
18,970
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
23rd pct
49th pct

At a glance

Dimension Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay $45,590 $48,620
Employment 174,430 18,970
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-12.1%) Declining (-13.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 14,400 1,500
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 · 23rd pct Moderate · 49th 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: Arm-Hand Steadiness, Control Precision, Near Vision, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Production and Processing, Information Ordering, Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time, Selective Attention, Active Listening, Monitoring, Quality Control Analysis, Oral Comprehension, Written Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Perceptual Speed, Visualization, Finger Dexterity, Multilimb Coordination, Rate Control, Static Strength, Trunk Strength, Far Vision, Mechanical, English Language, Judgment and Decision Making, Reading Comprehension.

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

  • Speaking
  • Critical Thinking
  • Troubleshooting
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Depth Perception
  • Speech Recognition
  • Speech Clarity
  • Active Learning

Specific to Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Engineering and Technology
  • Education and Training
  • Administration and Management
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Mathematics
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Administrative
  • Personnel and Human Resources

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: Inventory management software , Industrial control software .

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

Specific to Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic or Lathe and Turning Machine Tool 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. "Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic vs Lathe and Turning Machine Tool 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/cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic-vs-lathe-and-turning-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic vs Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic-vs-lathe-and-turning-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic-vs-lathe-and-turning-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic,
  title  = {Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic vs Lathe and Turning Machine Tool 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/cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic-vs-lathe-and-turning-machine-tool-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.