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Packers and Packagers, Hand vs Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Packers and Packagers, Hand and Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 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.”

Packers and Packagers, Hand Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$35,580
$49,390
Employment · BLS OEWS
601,440
96,950
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
18th pct
27th pct

At a glance

Dimension Packers and Packagers, Hand Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Median pay $35,580 $49,390
Employment 601,440 96,950
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-5.4%) Declining (-6.3%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 74,000 8,100
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 · 18th pct Low · 27th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 33rd pct · 20% of tasks 46th pct · 25% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
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: Production and Processing, Near Vision, Customer and Personal Service, Problem Sensitivity, Trunk Strength, Monitoring, Oral Comprehension, Manual Dexterity, Speech Recognition, English Language, Oral Expression, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Information Ordering, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Finger Dexterity, Extent Flexibility, Mathematics, Mechanical, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Coordination, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Control Precision.

Specific to Packers and Packagers, Hand

  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Static Strength
  • Administrative
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Speech Clarity
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Dynamic Strength
  • Stamina

Specific to Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

  • Operations Monitoring
  • Operation and Control
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Time Management
  • Rate Control
  • Reaction Time
  • Active Learning
  • Social Perceptiveness

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 , Office suite software , Word processing software .

Specific to Packers and Packagers, Hand

Specific to Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Packers and Packagers, Hand or Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders — 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. "Packers and Packagers, Hand vs Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders." 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; 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/packers-and-packagers-hand-vs-paper-goods-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Packers and Packagers, Hand vs Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/packers-and-packagers-hand-vs-paper-goods-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-packers-and-packagers-hand-vs-paper-goods-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders,
  title  = {Packers and Packagers, Hand vs Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; 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/packers-and-packagers-hand-vs-paper-goods-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders}
}

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