Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
Occupation · SOC 51-6021.00
Press or shape articles by hand or machine.
Also called: Ironing Worker · Pants Presser · Presser · Shirt Presser · Boarder · Dry Cleaner Presser · Garment Presser · Ironing Machine Operator · Pressing Machine Operator · Silk Presser · All-Around Presser · Armhole Presser
Job family: Production Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-51-6021-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Declining employment outlook (-13.5% by 2034)
- 2,800 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $33,880/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (65th); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (3rd)
3rd-percentile task overlap — yet about 2,800 openings a year (-13.5% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Low | 1st | -2.0 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 5th | 0.0 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 12th | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.0), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.0). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.8 · 65th percentile among occupations · Moderate
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Declining · -13.5% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 2,800 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 28,400 → 24,600 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials sits at the 16th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure rose from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
14% mean task exposure (2025)
16th percentile of 427 placed occupations
+3 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Hand Launderers and Pressers · 9121 | 14% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 28 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Hang, fold, package, and tag finished articles for delivery to customers. Core · importance 4.6
- Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles. Core · importance 4.6
- Straighten, smooth, or shape materials to prepare them for pressing. Core · importance 4.5
- Remove finished pieces from pressing machines and hang or stack them for cooling, or forward them for additional processing. Core · importance 4.5
- Finish pleated garments, determining sizes of pleats from evidence of old pleats or from work orders, using machine presses or hand irons. Core · importance 4.5
- Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed. Core · importance 4.5
- Identify and treat spots on garments. Core · importance 4.4
- Shrink, stretch, or block articles by hand to conform to original measurements, using forms, blocks, and steam. Core · importance 4.4
- Finish fancy garments such as evening gowns and costumes, using hand irons to produce high quality finishes. Core · importance 4.4
- Push and pull irons over surfaces of articles to smooth or shape them. Core · importance 4.4
- Finish pants, jackets, shirts, skirts and other dry-cleaned and laundered articles, using hand irons. Core · importance 4.3
- Select appropriate pressing machines, based on garment properties such as heat tolerance. Core · importance 4.3
- Slide material back and forth over heated, metal, ball-shaped forms to smooth and press portions of garments that cannot be satisfactorily pressed with flat pressers or hand irons. Core · importance 4.3
- Use covering cloths to prevent equipment from damaging delicate fabrics. Supplemental · importance 4.3
- Spray water over fabric to soften fibers when not using steam irons. Core · importance 4.2
- Position materials such as cloth garments, felt, or straw on tables, dies, or feeding mechanisms of pressing machines, or on ironing boards or work tables. Core · importance 4.2
- Examine and measure finished articles to verify conformance to standards, using measuring devices such as tape measures and micrometers. Supplemental · importance 4.2
- Finish velvet garments by steaming them on bucks of hot-head presses or steam tables, and brushing pile (nap) with handbrushes. Supplemental · importance 4.1
- Measure fabric to specifications, cut uneven edges with shears, fold material, and press it with an iron to form a heading. Supplemental · importance 4.1
- Moisten materials to soften and smooth them. Core · importance 4.1
- Clean and maintain pressing machines, using cleaning solutions and lubricants. Core · importance 4.1
- Insert heated metal forms into ties and touch up rough places with hand irons. Supplemental · importance 4.1
- Press ties on small pressing machines. Core · importance 4.1
- Activate and adjust machine controls to regulate temperature and pressure of rollers, ironing shoes, or plates, according to specifications. Core · importance 4.1
- Block or shape knitted garments after cleaning. Core · importance 4.1
- Brush materials made of suede, leather, or felt to remove spots or to raise and smooth naps. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Sew ends of new material to leaders or to ends of material in pressing machines, using sewing machines. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Select, install, and adjust machine components, including pressing forms, rollers, and guides, using hoists and hand tools. Supplemental · importance 3.6
Work activities
- Smooth garments with irons, presses, or steamers.
- Stack finished items for further processing or shipment.
- Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.
- Mark products, workpieces, or equipment with identifying information.
- Package products for storage or shipment.
- Select production equipment according to product specifications.
- Adjust fabrics or other materials during garment production.
- Set equipment guides, stops, spacers, or other fixtures.
- Prepare fabrics or materials for processing or production.
- Adjust temperature controls of ovens or other heating equipment.
- Clean production equipment.
- Maintain production or processing equipment.
- Clean fabrics or apparel.
- Install mechanical components in production equipment.
- Inspect garments for defects, damage, or stains.
- Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.
- Operate sewing equipment.
- Measure materials to mark reference points, cutting lines, or other indicators.
- Cut fabrics.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Abilities
| Manual Dexterity | 3.6 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.4 | |
| Control Precision | 3.3 | |
| Near Vision | 3.3 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 3.1 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 3.1 | |
| Reaction Time | 3.0 | |
| Trunk Strength | 3.0 | |
| Rate Control | 2.9 | |
| Extent Flexibility | 2.9 | |
| Dynamic Strength | 2.8 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 2.6 | |
| Stamina | 2.6 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 2.5 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 2.5 | |
| Information Ordering | 2.5 | |
| Selective Attention | 2.5 | |
| Static Strength | 2.5 | |
| Far Vision | 2.5 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 2.4 | |
| Speed of Limb Movement | 2.4 | |
| Depth Perception | 2.4 |
Knowledge
Transferable skills
| Operation and Control | 3.0 | |
| Operations Monitoring | 2.5 | |
| Time Management | 2.5 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 2.3 | |
| Equipment Maintenance | 2.3 | |
| Troubleshooting | 2.3 |
Essential skills
| Critical Thinking | 2.5 | |
| Monitoring | 2.4 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
| Example | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | Hot technology |
| Email software | Electronic mail software |
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Typical entry-level education
- No formal educational credential · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
- Preparation level
- SVP (Below 6.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Less than a High School Diploma | 59.2% | |
| High School Diploma | 25.6% | |
| Doctoral Degree | 14.2% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 1.1% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 6.4 | |
| Conventional | 3.5 | |
| Artistic | 2.3 | |
| Investigative | 1.5 | |
| Social | 1.1 |
Interest areas
| Physical/Manual Labor | 4.2 | |
| Applied Arts and Design | 2.0 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 1.4 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 1.3 | |
| Engineering | 1.3 | |
| Visual Arts | 1.3 | |
| Personal Service | 1.2 | |
| Performing Arts | 1.1 |
Work styles
| Attention to Detail | 2.1 | |
| Dependability | 1.8 | |
| Cautiousness | 1.1 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $24,960 |
| 25th percentile | $29,060 |
| Median (50th) | $33,880 |
| 75th percentile | $36,830 |
| 90th percentile | $41,410 |
| People employed | 26,830 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 23,560 | $33,690 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,780 | $35,790 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 620 | $34,510 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 190 | $36,480 |
| Sporting Goods Retailers · National industry | 170 | $35,210 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance · Sector | 30 | $28,080 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | — | $36,830 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | — | $33,950 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | — | $28,690 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | — | $28,690 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 30.59× | 23,560 |
| Sporting Goods Retailers · National industry | 3.28× | 170 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.8× | 1,780 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 0.46× | 190 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 0.23× | 620 |
Related occupations
Part of the Advanced Manufacturing career cluster.
- Sewing Machine Operators · 51-6031.00 Compare →
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers · 51-6011.00 Compare →
- Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders · 51-6042.00 Compare →
- Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · 51-9196.00 Compare →
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers · 53-7063.00 Compare →
- Cutters and Trimmers, Hand · 51-9031.00 Compare →
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · 51-9032.00 Compare →
- Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders · 51-9191.00 Compare →
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders · 51-6061.00 Compare →
- Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers · 51-6041.00 Compare →
- Sewers, Hand · 51-6051.00 Compare →
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand · 51-9022.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- No formal educational credential · typical entry level
- Job zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed · preparation tier
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 16th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials show 3rd-percentile AI task overlap — and about 2,800 annual U.S. openings
- Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials rank in the 3rd percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 2,800 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be declining (-13.5%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $33,880, across about 26,830 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials show 3rd-percentile AI task overlap — and about 2,800 annual U.S. openings • Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials rank in the 3rd percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 2,800 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be declining (-13.5%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $33,880, across about 26,830 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-6021-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
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.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials." 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/roles/role-51-6021-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-6021-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-51-6021-00,
title = {Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials},
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/roles/role-51-6021-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.