Metal working machine operatives
Metal working machine operatives operate machines to cut, shape, abrade and otherwise machine metal, use hand and power tools to remove surplus metal and rough surfaces from castings, forgings or other metal parts, and clean, smooth and polish metal workpieces.
- Employees (UK)
- 14k
- Median annual pay
- £31,344
- Exposure score ?
- 0.7/10 Minimal 1.4/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 1.4/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.7/10
- Wage exposure
- £31m £61m
Higher exposure than 42% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
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Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
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Lubricate workpieces with oil.
For this role the labels do not surface obvious candidates, so the work would start with the highest-stakes tasks below and find the AI angle in conversation.
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Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
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Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
-
Lubricate workpieces with oil.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic" (51-4031.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 31 tasks, unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
What still needs a person
31 of 31 tasks
Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
Lubricate workpieces with oil.
Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances.
Install, align, and lock specified punches, dies, cutting blades, or other fixtures in rams or beds of machines, using gauges, templates, feelers, shims, and hand tools.
Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data.
Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.
Adjust ram strokes of presses to specified lengths, using hand tools.
Position, align, and secure workpieces against fixtures or stops on machine beds or on dies.
Test and adjust machine speeds or actions, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools.
Load workpieces, plastic material, or chemical solutions into machines.
Set stops on machine beds, change dies, and adjust components, such as rams or power presses, when making multiple or successive passes.
Clean and lubricate machines.
Position guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct workpieces, using hand tools and measuring devices.
Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.
Place workpieces on cutting tables, manually or using hoists, cranes, or sledges.
Replace defective blades or wheels, using hand tools.
Plan sequences of operations, applying knowledge of physical properties of workpiece materials.
Clean work area.
Mark identifying data on workpieces.
Turn valves to start flow of coolant against cutting areas or to start airflow that blows cuttings away from kerfs.
Hone cutters with oilstones to remove nicks.
Remove housings, feed tubes, tool holders, or other accessories to replace worn or broken parts, such as springs or bushings.
Sharpen dulled blades, using bench grinders, abrasive wheels, or lathes.
Operate forklifts to deliver materials.
Select, clean, and install spacers, rubber sleeves, or cutters on arbors.
Scribe reference lines on workpieces as guides for cutting operations, according to blueprints, templates, sample parts, or specifications.
Grind out burrs or sharp edges, using portable grinders, speed lathes, or polishing jacks.
Set blade tensions, heights, and angles to perform prescribed cuts, using wrenches.
Use equipment designed to join sheet metal, such as spot welders.
Preheat workpieces, using heating furnaces or hand torches.
Tasks via O*NET "Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic" (51-4031.00).
What AI can already do
1 of 31 tasks, with tools
Scribe reference lines on workpieces as guides for cutting operations, according to blueprints, templates, sample parts, or specifications.
What still needs a person
30 of 31 tasks
Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
Lubricate workpieces with oil.
Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances.
Install, align, and lock specified punches, dies, cutting blades, or other fixtures in rams or beds of machines, using gauges, templates, feelers, shims, and hand tools.
Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data.
Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.
Adjust ram strokes of presses to specified lengths, using hand tools.
Position, align, and secure workpieces against fixtures or stops on machine beds or on dies.
Test and adjust machine speeds or actions, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools.
Load workpieces, plastic material, or chemical solutions into machines.
Set stops on machine beds, change dies, and adjust components, such as rams or power presses, when making multiple or successive passes.
Clean and lubricate machines.
Position guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct workpieces, using hand tools and measuring devices.
Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.
Place workpieces on cutting tables, manually or using hoists, cranes, or sledges.
Replace defective blades or wheels, using hand tools.
Plan sequences of operations, applying knowledge of physical properties of workpiece materials.
Clean work area.
Mark identifying data on workpieces.
Turn valves to start flow of coolant against cutting areas or to start airflow that blows cuttings away from kerfs.
Hone cutters with oilstones to remove nicks.
Remove housings, feed tubes, tool holders, or other accessories to replace worn or broken parts, such as springs or bushings.
Sharpen dulled blades, using bench grinders, abrasive wheels, or lathes.
Operate forklifts to deliver materials.
Select, clean, and install spacers, rubber sleeves, or cutters on arbors.
Grind out burrs or sharp edges, using portable grinders, speed lathes, or polishing jacks.
Set blade tensions, heights, and angles to perform prescribed cuts, using wrenches.
Use equipment designed to join sheet metal, such as spot welders.
Preheat workpieces, using heating furnaces or hand torches.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Process, plant and machine operatives, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons