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Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

Production · SOC 51-9032

3.2% AI Exposure — Medium
$46,570
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
7,300
Proj. Annual Openings
44,980
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-4.1%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
97/100
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 51-9032 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
3.2%
Medium · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
52/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$46,570
No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
Projected openings
7,300
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change -2.3%.
Observed/proxy demand
FY— certified LCAs; 8,090 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Operations MonitoringOperation and ControlQuality Control AnalysisMonitoringReading Comprehension
  • 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.

Best transitions from here

Explore all pathways

Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure3.2%
AI Resiliency97/100
Exposure BandMedium
Sector Avg. Exposure0.7%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

16%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic3.2%
AI capability · OpenAI6.8%
AI ability · AIOE37.9%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne86%

Top Skills

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

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

Set up, operate, or tend machines that cut or slice materials, such as glass, stone, cork, rubber, tobacco, food, paper, or insulating material.

Common titles: Cutter, Cutter Operator, Cutting Pressman, Die Cutter Operator, Flat Cutter, Machine Operator

Representative Tasks

  • Set up, operate, or tend machines that cut or slice materials, such as glass, stone, cork, rubber, tobacco, food, paper, or insulating material.
  • Review work orders, blueprints, specifications, or job samples to determine components, settings, and adjustments for cutting and slicing machines.
  • Examine, measure, and weigh materials or products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring devices, such as rulers, micrometers, or scales.
  • Press buttons, pull levers, or depress pedals to start and operate cutting and slicing machines.
  • Start machines to verify setups, and make any necessary adjustments.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Operate cutting equipment.
  • Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.
  • Study blueprints or other instructions to determine equipment setup requirements.
  • Weigh finished products.
  • Conduct test runs of production equipment.

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 51-9032: 2019 — employment: 57,960, median wage: $35,600; 2020 — employment: 52,760, median wage: $36,980; 2021 — employment: 55,930, median wage: $37,810; 2022 — employment: 54,110, median wage: $39,880; 2023 — employment: 52,720, median wage: $44,310; 2025 — employment: 44,980, median wage: $46,570.

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

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure3.2%0.7%
OutlookAverage4% Bright
Median Salary$46,570N/A
AI Resiliency97/100N/A