Skip to content
man bot

Craft and related trades workers · code 7223

Metal working machine tool setters and operators

Metal working machine tool setters and operators set and/or operate various machine tools, working to fine tolerances. Tasks include - (a) setting one or more types of machine tool for production of metal articles in standardized series; (b) operating and monitoring metal working machines such as lathes, milling, planing, boring, drilling, grinding or honing machines, including multipurpose numerically controlled metal working machines; (c) performing similar tasks when machining plastics and other metal substitutes; (d) observing machine operations to detect work piece defects or machine malfunctions, and adjusting machines as necessary; (e) inspecting work pieces for defects, and measuring work pieces to determine accuracy of machine operation, using rules, templates or other measuring instruments; (f) changing worn machine accessories such as cutting tools and brushes, using hand tools. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Boring machine operator - Casting machine operator - Machine tool operator - Machine tool setter - Machine tool setter-operator - Metal turner - Rivet production machine operator - Tool production machine operator

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 119 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • swaging machine operator
  • upsetting machine operator
  • chain making machine operator
  • stamping press operator
  • ornamental metal worker
  • fitter and turner
  • scrap metal operative
  • metal planer operator
  • drilling machine operator
  • oxy fuel burning machine operator
  • gear machinist
  • moulding machine operator
  • computer numerical control machine operator
  • heat treatment furnace operator
  • plasma cutting machine operator
  • spark erosion machine operator
  • metal nibbling operator
  • briquetting machine operator
  • drill press operator
  • screw machine operator
  • straightening machine operator
  • thread rolling machine operator
  • router operator
  • laser marking machine operator
  • boring machine operator

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

81.8
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 18.2 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 18.2 = 81.8

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

67
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 11 US jobs , so treat it as rough

39.6
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 45.8 · hand skill 44.8 · cramped spaces 28.3 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on 50+ · fiddly 39.4+ Hands-on, fiddly work in tight spaces

More fine handwork, and more time in cramped or awkward spots, than a typical hands-on job. That is exactly what machines find hardest: they do best in tidy, predictable places.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

This number is probably too high

This score only looks at AI tools like chatbots. It doesn't look at robots at all — and this job rates 67 out of 100 for how hands-on it is, which is exactly where robots come in.

Have a look at the tasks below and judge for yourself. The ILO scored them low because a chatbot can't do them. Whether a machine with hands could is a different question, and we can't answer it yet.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 25, while the average is 18.2. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 25

    Inspecting work pieces for defects, and measuring work pieces to determine accuracy of machine operation, using rules, templates or other measuring instruments

    Low
  2. 24

    Observing machine operations to detect work piece defects or machine malfunctions, and adjusting machines as necessary

    Very Low
  3. 16.3

    Setting one or more types of machine tool for production of metal articles in standardized series

    Very Low
  4. 15.8

    Operating and monitoring metal working machines, such as lathes, milling, planing, boring, drilling, grinding or honing machines, including multipurpose numerically controlled metal working machines

    Very Low
  5. 15

    Performing similar tasks when machining plastics and other metal substitutes

    Very Low
  6. 13

    Changing worn machine accessories, such as cutting tools and brushes, using hand tools.

    Very Low

6 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

2 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
62.5
AI does it for you
26.5

Helping wins by 36 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 3232, 7123

Compared with similar jobs

There are 65 jobs in the “Craft and related trades workers” group, averaging 83.5. This one is below that.