# First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers

> Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of production and operating workers, such as inspectors, precision workers, machine setters and operators, assemblers, fabricators, and plant and system operators. Excludes team or work leaders.

- **SOC code:** 51-1011.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-1011-00
- **Also known as:** Assembly Supervisor, Manufacturing Supervisor, Production Manager, Production Supervisor, Line Supervisor, Molding Supervisor, Plant Supervisor, Quality Assurance Supervisor (QA Supervisor)
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Enforce safety and sanitation regulations.
- Keep records of employees' attendance and hours worked.
- Inspect materials, products, or equipment to detect defects or malfunctions.
- Read and analyze charts, work orders, production schedules, and other records and reports to determine production requirements and to evaluate current production estimates and outputs.
- Plan and establish work schedules, assignments, and production sequences to meet production goals.
- Confer with other supervisors to coordinate operations and activities within or between departments.
- Interpret specifications, blueprints, job orders, and company policies and procedures for workers.
- Direct and coordinate the activities of employees engaged in the production or processing of goods, such as inspectors, machine setters, or fabricators.
- Observe work and monitor gauges, dials, and other indicators to ensure that operators conform to production or processing standards.
- Conduct employee training in equipment operations or work and safety procedures, or assign employee training to experienced workers.
- Evaluate employee performance.
- Confer with management or subordinates to resolve worker problems, complaints, or grievances.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Production and Processing _(knowledge)_
- Administration and Management _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Time Management _(transferable_skill)_
- Management of Personnel Resources _(transferable_skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(transferable_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology, in demand)_
- SAP software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Apple Safari _(hot technology)_
- Autodesk AutoCAD _(hot technology)_
- Extensible markup language XML _(hot technology)_
- Kronos Workforce Timekeeper _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Project _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft SharePoint _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 59th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 46th percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 53rd percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 80th percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 12th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 1.2% growth (About average); 67.7k annual openings; 698.6k → 706.9k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $71,190; 685,140 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-1011-00_