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Craft and related trades workers · code 7315

Glass makers, cutters, grinders and finishers

Glass makers, cutters, grinders and finishers blow, mould, press, cut, trim, grind and polish glass, and shape molten glass according to patterns. Tasks include - (a) heating glass to pliable stage using gas flames or ovens, and rotating glass to heat it uniformly; (b) blowing and bending glass tubing into specified shapes to form scientific apparatus such as flasks, retorts and pipettes; (c) grinding and polishing glass objects or parts to correct defects or to prepare surfaces for further finishing and smoothening and polishing rough edges, using belt sanders or polishing wheels; (d) examining glass stock and finished products and marking or discarding items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches or unacceptable shapes or finishes; (e) reading work orders to determine dimensions, cutting locations and quantities to cut; (f) observing gauges, computer printouts and video monitors to verify specified processing conditions and make adjustments as necessary; (g) positioning patterns or drawings on glass, measuring dimensions, and marking cutting lines, using glass cutting tools and cutting glass along marked outlines or around pattern; (h) setting up, operating and adjusting computerized or robotic glass cutting equipment; (i) inspecting, weighing and measuring products to verify conformity with specifications, using instruments such as micrometers, callipers, magnifiers and rulers; (j) regulating oven temperatures according to glass types to be processed; (k) transferring patterns for individual stained glass parts from full size drawings to pattern paper, using stylus to trace drawings; (l) spraying silver solution on glass to provide mirrored surface, using spray guns; (m) laying out cutting and grinding optical and other glass to specified dimensions and weight for moulding into lens blanks and for use as watch crystals. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Glass blower - Glass cutter - Glass finisher - Glass grinder Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Glass production furnace operator - 8181

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 128 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • glass-blower
  • glass beveller

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

81.3
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 18.7 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 18.7 = 81.3

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

72.3
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 6 US jobs

35
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 48.2 · hand skill 47.6 · cramped spaces 9.2 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on 50+ · fiddly under 39.4 Hands-on, less fiddly work

Less fine handwork and fewer cramped spaces than a typical hands-on job. That clears one hurdle for machines. It doesn't mean machines are doing this work yet.

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 72.3 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 29.3, while the average is 18.7. 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. 29.3

    Observing gauges, computer printouts and video monitors to verify specified processing conditions and make adjustments as necessary

    Low
  2. 26.5

    Inspecting, weighing and measuring products to verify conformance to specifications, using instruments such as micrometers, callipers, magnifiers and rulers

    Low
  3. 25

    Reading work orders to determine dimensions, cutting locations and quantities to cut

    Low
  4. 24

    Regulating oven temperatures according to glass types to be processed

    Very Low
  5. 20

    Examining glass stock and finished products and marking or discarding items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes

    Very Low
  6. 17.5

    Heating glass to pliable stage using gas flames or ovens, and rotating glass to heat it uniformly

    Very Low
  7. 16.5

    Transferring pattern for individual stained glass parts from full size drawing to pattern paper, using stylus to trace drawings

    Very Low
  8. 15

    Blowing and bending glass tubing into specified shapes to form scientific apparatus such as flasks, retorts and pipettes

    Very Low
  9. 14.8

    Setting up, operating and adjusting computerized or robotic glass cutting equipment

    Very Low
  10. 14.3

    Positioning pattern or drawing on glass, measuring dimensions, and marking cutting lines, using glass cutting tools and cutting glass along marked outlines or around pattern

    Very Low
  11. 14

    Grinding and polishing glass objects or parts to correct defects or to prepare surfaces for further finishing and smoothing and polishing rough edges, using belt sander or polishing wheels

    Very Low
  12. 13.8

    Spraying silver solution on glass to provide mirrored surface, using spray gun

    Very Low
  13. 12

    Laying out cutting and grinding optical and other glass to specified dimensions and weight for moulding into lens blanks and for use as watch crystals.

    Very Low

13 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.

One Australian job matches, but only partly: not everyone in it does this job. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
61
AI does it for you
30

Helping wins by 31 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 3999

Compared with similar jobs

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