Plant and machine
operatives n.e.c.
Job holders in this unit group operate a variety of plant and machinery not elsewhere classified in minor group 813: Plant and machine operatives.
- Employees (UK)
- 12k
- Median annual pay
- £29,142
- Exposure score ?
- 1.0/10 Minimal 1.5/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 1.5/10 with-tools reading, strict is 1.0/10
- Wage exposure
- £35m £52m
Higher exposure than 56% 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.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports.
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Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations.
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Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports.
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Inspect materials, components, or products for surface defects and measure circuitry, using electronic test equipment, precision measuring instruments, microscope, and standard procedures.
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Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations.
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 "Semiconductor Processing Technicians" (51-9141.00).
What AI can already do
4 of 20 tasks, unaided
Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports.
Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations.
Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals.
Calculate etching time based on thickness of material to be removed from wafers or crystals.
What still needs a person
16 of 20 tasks
Manipulate valves, switches, and buttons, or key commands into control panels to start semiconductor processing cycles.
Inspect materials, components, or products for surface defects and measure circuitry, using electronic test equipment, precision measuring instruments, microscope, and standard procedures.
Set, adjust, and readjust computerized or mechanical equipment controls to regulate power level, temperature, vacuum, and rotation speed of furnace, according to crystal growing specifications.
Etch, lap, polish, or grind wafers or ingots to form circuitry and change conductive properties, using etching, lapping, polishing, or grinding equipment.
Clean semiconductor wafers using cleaning equipment, such as chemical baths, automatic wafer cleaners, or blow-off wands.
Load semiconductor material into furnace.
Load and unload equipment chambers and transport finished product to storage or to area for further processing.
Count, sort, and weigh processed items.
Inspect equipment for leaks, diagnose malfunctions, and request repairs.
Align photo mask pattern on photoresist layer, expose pattern to ultraviolet light, and develop pattern, using specialized equipment.
Clean and maintain equipment, including replacing etching and rinsing solutions and cleaning bath containers and work area.
Place semiconductor wafers in processing containers or equipment holders, using vacuum wand or tweezers.
Stamp, etch, or scribe identifying information on finished component according to specifications.
Scribe or separate wafers into dice.
Connect reactor to computer, using hand tools and power tools.
Measure and weigh amounts of crystal growing materials, mix and grind materials, load materials into container, and monitor processing procedures to help identify crystal growing problems.
Tasks via O*NET "Semiconductor Processing Technicians" (51-9141.00).
What AI can already do
6 of 20 tasks, with tools
Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports.
Inspect materials, components, or products for surface defects and measure circuitry, using electronic test equipment, precision measuring instruments, microscope, and standard procedures.
Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations.
Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals.
Count, sort, and weigh processed items.
Calculate etching time based on thickness of material to be removed from wafers or crystals.
What still needs a person
14 of 20 tasks
Manipulate valves, switches, and buttons, or key commands into control panels to start semiconductor processing cycles.
Set, adjust, and readjust computerized or mechanical equipment controls to regulate power level, temperature, vacuum, and rotation speed of furnace, according to crystal growing specifications.
Etch, lap, polish, or grind wafers or ingots to form circuitry and change conductive properties, using etching, lapping, polishing, or grinding equipment.
Clean semiconductor wafers using cleaning equipment, such as chemical baths, automatic wafer cleaners, or blow-off wands.
Load semiconductor material into furnace.
Load and unload equipment chambers and transport finished product to storage or to area for further processing.
Inspect equipment for leaks, diagnose malfunctions, and request repairs.
Align photo mask pattern on photoresist layer, expose pattern to ultraviolet light, and develop pattern, using specialized equipment.
Clean and maintain equipment, including replacing etching and rinsing solutions and cleaning bath containers and work area.
Place semiconductor wafers in processing containers or equipment holders, using vacuum wand or tweezers.
Stamp, etch, or scribe identifying information on finished component according to specifications.
Scribe or separate wafers into dice.
Connect reactor to computer, using hand tools and power tools.
Measure and weigh amounts of crystal growing materials, mix and grind materials, load materials into container, and monitor processing procedures to help identify crystal growing problems.
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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