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Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas vs Drilling and Boring 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 Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas and Drilling and Boring 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.”

Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$65,010
$46,630
Employment · BLS OEWS
13,090
5,310
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
13th pct
29th pct

At a glance

Dimension Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay $65,010 $46,630
Employment 13,090 5,310
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.2%) Declining (-19.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 1,200 400
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 · 13th pct Low · 29th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 30th pct · 19% of tasks 26th pct · 18% 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: Problem Sensitivity, Control Precision, Near Vision, Mechanical, Mathematics, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Information Ordering, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Monitoring, Finger Dexterity, Active Listening, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Selective Attention, Rate Control, Administration and Management, Speaking, Written Expression, Education and Training, Written Comprehension, Category Flexibility, Perceptual Speed, Reaction Time, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making.

Specific to Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas

  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Instructing
  • Coordination
  • Auditory Attention
  • Speech Recognition
  • Speech Clarity
  • Personnel and Human Resources
  • Writing

Specific to Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Production and Processing
  • English Language
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Design
  • Visualization
  • Time Management
  • Far Vision
  • Computers and Electronics

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 , Enterprise resource planning ERP software , Industrial control software .

Specific to Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas

Specific to Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas or Drilling and Boring 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. "Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas vs Drilling and Boring 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/rotary-drill-operators-oil-and-gas-vs-drilling-and-boring-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas vs Drilling and Boring 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/rotary-drill-operators-oil-and-gas-vs-drilling-and-boring-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-rotary-drill-operators-oil-and-gas-vs-drilling-and-boring-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic,
  title  = {Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas vs Drilling and Boring 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/rotary-drill-operators-oil-and-gas-vs-drilling-and-boring-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.