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Metal Workers and Plastic Workers

Occupation group · SOC minor group

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Metal Workers and Plastic Workers is one of the 98 SOC minor groups — the middle tier of the U.S. Standard Occupational Classification, sitting between the broad job families and individual occupations. It belongs to the Production Occupations family and contains 24 detailed occupations employing about 1,599,750 people, with a median wage of $48,465 across them. BLS projects employment in this group to change -3.6% between 2024 and 2034 , with roughly 153,900 openings a year.

Occupations in this group

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 23 occupations in Metal Workers and Plastic Workers. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Foundry Mold and Coremakers Pourers and Casters, Metal Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Model Makers, Metal and Plastic Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Each occupation in this group with both an AI task-overlap score and a wage, plotted by task-overlap percentile (horizontal) and median-pay percentile (vertical). Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation.

Ranked by U.S. employment (BLS OEWS May 2024). Projected change is BLS 2024–34; AI exposure is the OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" human beta rating (share of an occupation's tasks where an LLM with tools could cut the time to do them by at least half).

Occupation Median pay Employment 2024–34 AI exposure
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers $51,000 424,040 +2.2% 4%
Machinists $56,150 298,790 +0.0% 13%
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $45,590 174,430 -12.1% 2%
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $41,230 154,820 -3.8% 3%
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $46,060 129,850 -0.5% 14%
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $45,190 70,110 -12.0% 6%
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $46,980 65,700 +1.2% 8%
Tool and Die Makers $63,180 55,130 -10.8% 11%
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders $47,060 36,290 -9.0% 6%
Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $41,600 31,510 -13.6% 4%
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $48,630 22,350 -8.3% 7%
Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders $55,770 20,330 -2.3% 4%
Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other $42,750 20,270 -9.5% —
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $48,620 18,970 -13.6% 3%
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $47,450 14,590 -12.8% 6%
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $48,310 13,810 -14.4% 7%
Foundry Mold and Coremakers $45,700 12,720 -25.9% 0%
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $49,240 8,760 -18.9% 4%
Pourers and Casters, Metal $48,940 5,830 -4.7% 0%
Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners $48,970 5,730 -7.8% 0%
Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic $61,870 5,610 -5.4% 15%
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $46,630 5,310 -19.6% 0%
Model Makers, Metal and Plastic $62,700 3,230 -18.2% 10%
Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic $54,540 1,570 -24.4% 13%

AI exposure across this group

Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks an LLM (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across this group it is 6% — 9th percentile of the 98 groups. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages -0.97 here.

Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks — it is not a prediction that these jobs will be automated. High exposure often means augmentation (faster work), and many high-exposure occupations are also projected to grow.

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. "Metal Workers and Plastic Workers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/occupation-groups/metal-workers-and-plastic-workers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Metal Workers and Plastic Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/occupation-groups/metal-workers-and-plastic-workers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-metal-workers-and-plastic-workers,
  title  = {Metal Workers and Plastic Workers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/occupation-groups/metal-workers-and-plastic-workers}
}

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