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Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders
Production · SOC 51-6042
0.0% AI Exposure — Low
$35,650
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
500
Proj. Annual Openings
3,280
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-6.8%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
100/100
AI Resiliency Score
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 51-6042 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
- SOC exposure
- 0.0%
- Low · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 52/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $35,650
- No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
- Projected openings
- 500
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change -3.7%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- —
- FY— certified LCAs; 544 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
Operations MonitoringReading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical ThinkingOperation and Control
Transition context
- H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
- Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
- Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
- This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.
AI Exposure Analysis
AI Exposure0.0%
AI Resiliency100/100
Exposure BandLow
Sector Avg. Exposure0.7%
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
15.9%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic0%
AI capability · OpenAI8.7%
AI ability · AIOE39.1%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne97%
Top Skills
1.Operations Monitoring
2.Reading Comprehension
3.Active Listening
4.Critical Thinking
5.Operation and Control
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →No H-1B certified LCA filings recorded for this occupation in FY2016–FY2025.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
Operate or tend a variety of machines to join, decorate, reinforce, or finish shoes and shoe parts.
Common titles: Boot Maker, Cobbler, Inseamer, Insole Department Worker, Shoe Cementer, Shoe Maker
Representative Tasks
- •Inspect finished products to ensure that shoes have been completed according to specifications.
- •Align parts to be stitched, following seams, edges, or markings, before positioning them under needles.
- •Operate or tend machines to join, decorate, reinforce, or finish shoes and shoe parts.
- •Remove and examine shoes, shoe parts, and designs to verify conformance to specifications such as proper embedding of stitches in channels.
- •Switch on machines, lower pressure feet or rollers to secure parts, and start machine stitching, using hand, foot, or knee controls.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Align parts or workpieces to ensure proper assembly.
- •Inspect finishes of workpieces or finished products.
- •Inspect products or operations to ensure that standards are met.
- •Operate sewing equipment.
- •Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.
Tools & Technologies
Adobe Acrobat · hotMicrosoft Excel · hotMicrosoft Outlook · hotMicrosoft PowerPoint · hotProduction control software
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
15
Occupations Shown
0.5%
Avg AI Exposure
1
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.
Employment & Wage Trend
BLS OEWS, 2019–2025
Multi-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 51-6042: 2019 — employment: 5,020, median wage: $30,570; 2020 — employment: 4,080, median wage: $30,630; 2021 — employment: 3,610, median wage: $28,560; 2022 — employment: 2,960, median wage: $33,060; 2023 — employment: 4,630, median wage: $36,970; 2025 — employment: 3,280, median wage: $35,650.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 0.0% | 0.7% |
| Outlook | Average | 4% Bright |
| Median Salary | $35,650 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 100/100 | N/A |