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Plant and System Operators, All Other

Production · SOC 51-8099

0.0% AI Exposure — Low
$62,470
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
1,400
Proj. Annual Openings
14,080
Employment (OEWS 2025)
+1.4%/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 51-8099 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
47/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$62,470
H-1B offered wage $58,240; LCAs are filings.
Projected openings
1,400
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +1.6%.
Observed/proxy demand
1
FY2025 certified LCAs; 1,367 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Operations MonitoringOperation and ControlReading ComprehensionMonitoringQuality Control Analysis

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.

19%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic0%
AI capability · OpenAI9.5%
AI ability · AIOE47.6%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne86%

Top Skills

1.Operations Monitoring
2.Operation and Control
3.Reading Comprehension
4.Monitoring
5.Quality Control Analysis

H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand

View full H-1B trends →

Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.

3
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
1
FY2025 Volume
0% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$58,240
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#584 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

All plant and system operators not listed separately.

Representative Tasks

    Detailed Work Activities

      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


      Occupation Employment & Wage TrendMulti-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 51-8099: 2019 — employment: 12,950, median wage: $58,390; 2020 — employment: 14,680, median wage: $58,960; 2021 — employment: 15,420, median wage: $50,250; 2022 — employment: 15,370, median wage: $57,470; 2023 — employment: 15,370, median wage: $56,940; 2025 — employment: 14,080, median wage: $62,470.

      Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.

      Sector Comparison

      MetricThis CareerSector Average
      AI Exposure0.0%0.7%
      OutlookAverage4% Bright
      Median Salary$62,470N/A
      AI Resiliency100/100N/A