Production Occupations Not Studied in Detail

1994 employment: 36,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: About as fast as average
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Boiler operators and tenders, low pressure
Operate or tend low-pressure stationary steam boilers and auxiliary steam equipment, such as pumps, compressors, and air-conditioning equipment, to supply steam heat for office buildings, apartment houses, or industrial establishments; to maintain steam at specified pressure aboard marine vessels; or to generate and supply compressed air for operation of pneumatic tools, hoists, and air lances.

1994 employment: 18,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Cannery workers
Perform a variety of routine tasks in canning, freezing, preserving, or packing food products. May sort, grade, wash, peel, trim, or slice agricultural produce.

1994 employment: 73,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: About as fast as average
Most significant source of training: Up to 1 month of on-the-job training

Cementing and gluing machine operators and tenders
Operate or tend cementing and gluing machines to join together items, such as veneer sheets and plywood; paper and glass wool, cardboard, or paper; rubber and rubberized fabric parts; plastic; and simulated leather or other materials, to form completed product or to form product for further processing.

1994 employment: 36,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Chemical equipment controllers, operators, and tenders
Controllers and operators: Control or operate equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. Common types of equipment are reaction kettles, catalytic converters, continuous or batch treating equipment, saturator tanks, electrolytic cells, reactor vessels, recovery units, and fermentation chambers. Tenders: Tend equipment in which a chemical change or reaction takes place to process chemical substances into industrial or consumer products. Common types of equipment are devulcanizers, batch stills, fermenting tanks, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.

1994 employment: 75,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Chemical plant and system operators
Control and operate an entire chemical process or system of machines, such as reduction pots and heated air towers, using panel boards, control boards, or semiautomatic equipment.

1994 employment: 37,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: More than 12 months of on-the-job training

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers
Using coil winding machines, wind wire coils used in the manufacturing of electrical components, such as resistors and transformers, and electrical equipment, such as field cores, bobbins, and armature cores; and using coil making machines, form coils for electrical motors, generators, and control equipment.

1994 employment: 21,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: Up to 1 month of on-the-job training

Cooking and roasting machine operators and tenders
Cooking machine operators and tenders: Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products, such as meats, sugar, cheese, and grain. Roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders: Operate or tend roasting, baking, or drying equipment, such as hearth ovens, kiln dryers, roasters, char kilns, steam ovens, and vacuum drying equipment, to reduce moisture content of food or tobacco products such as tobacco, cocoa and coffee beans, macaroni, and grain; to roast grain, nuts, or coffee beans; to bake bread or other bakery products; or to process food preparatory to canning.

1994 employment: 28,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: Slower than average
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Crushing and mixing machine operators and tenders
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operators and tenders: Operate or tend machines to crush or grind materials such as coal, glass, plastic, dried fruit, grain, stone, chemicals, food, or rubber; or operate or tend machines to buff and polish materials such as stone, glass, slate, plastic or metal trim, bowling balls, or eyeglasses. Mixing and blending machine operators and tenders: Operate or tend machines to mix or blend materials such as spices, dough batter, tobacco, fruit juices, chemicals, livestock feed, food products, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.

1994 employment: 137,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders
Operators and tenders: Operate or tend machines to cut or slice materials such as tobacco, food, paper, roofing slate, glass, stone rubber, cork, and insulating material. Setters and setup operators: Set up and operate machines to cut or slice materials such as glass, stone, cork, rubber, crepe, wallboard, and fibrous insulating board, to specified dimensions for further processing.

1994 employment: 92,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: About as fast as average
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Dairy processing equipment operators, including setters
Set up, operate, or tend continuous flow or vat-type equipment to process milk, cream, or other dairy products following specified methods and formulas.

1994 employment: 14,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Electrical and electronic assemblers
Perform work at a level less than that required of the precision level. Includes occupations such as electronic wirers, armature connectors, electric motor winders, skein winders, carbon brush assemblers, battery parts assemblers, electric sign assemblers, and electronic assemblers.

1994 employment: 212,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: Up to 1 month of on-the-job training

Electronic semiconductor processors
Process materials used in the manufacture of electronic semiconductors; load semiconductor material into furnace; saw formed ingots into segments; load individual segment into crystal-growing chamber and monitor controls; locate crystal axis in ingot using x ray equipment and saw ingots into wafers; clean, polish, and load wafers into series of special-purpose furnaces, chemical baths, and equipment used to form circuitry and change conductive properties. May scribe or separate wafer into dice.

1994 employment: 33,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: Little change
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders
Operators and tenders: Operate or tend machines to shape and form manufactured products such as glass bulbs, molded food and candy, rubber goods, clay products, wax products, tobacco plugs, cosmetics, or paper products, by means of extruding, compressing, or compacting. Setters and setup operators: Set up and operate machines such as glass forming machines, plodder machines, and tuber machines, to manufacture products such as soap bars, formed rubber, glassware, soft candy, brick, and tile, by means of extruding, compressing, or compacting.

1994 employment: 102,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: Faster than average
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Foundry mold assembly and shakeout workers
Prepare molds, such as cleaning and assembling foundry molds, for pouring. Assemble cores in fixture of automatic core-sorting machine, and bond cope and drags together to form completed shell mold.

1994 employment: 10,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Furnace operators and tenders
Operate or tend furnaces, such as gas, oil, coal, electric-arc or electric induction, open-hearth, or oxygen furnaces, to melt and refine metal prior to casting or to produce specified types of steel.

1994 employment: 20,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Furnace, kiln, or kettle operators and tenders
Operate or tend heating equipment other than basic metal or plastic processing equipment. Furnace operators and tenders: May anneal glass, roast sulfur, convert chemicals, or process petroleum. Kiln operators and tenders: May heat minerals, dry lumber, fire greenware, anneal glassware, or bake clay products. Oven operators and tenders: May bake fiberglass or painted products, fuse glass or enamel to metal products, carbonize coal, or cure rubber or other products. Drier operators and tenders: May remove moisture from paper, chemicals, ore, clay products, or slurry. Kettle operators and tenders: May melt antimony or asphalt materials, or boil soap.

1994 employment: 28,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Gas and petroleum plant and systems occupations
Gaugers: Gauge and test oil in storage tanks and regulate flow of oil into pipelines at wells, tank farms, refineries, and marine and rail terminals following prescribed standards and regulations. Petroleum refinery and control panel operators: Analyze specifications or follow process schedules to operate and control panelboards and continuous petroleum refining and processing units. Gas plant operators: Distribute or process gas for utility companies and others. Distribute the gas for an entire plant or process, often using panel boards, control boards, or semiautomatic equipment. Petroleum pump systems operators: Operate and control manifold and pumping systems to circulate liquids through petroleum refinery.

1994 employment: 31,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: More than 12 months of on-the-job training

Grinders and polishers, hand
Perform work at a level less than that required of the precision level. Grind and polish a wide variety of metal, stone, clay, plastic, and glass objects or parts, using hand tools or hand-held power tools.

1994 employment: 74,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: Up to 1 month of on-the-job training

Laundry and drycleaning machine operators and tenders, except pressing
Operate and tend washing or drycleaning machines to clean or dry-clean commercial, industrial, or household articles, such as suede, leather, and cloth garments, furs, blankets, draperies, fine linens, rugs, and carpets.

1994 employment: 175,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: About as fast as average
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Machine assemblers
Perform work at a level less than that required of the precision level. Includes occupations such as air-conditioning coil assemblers, ball bearing ring assemblers, fuel injection assemblers, and subassemblers.

1994 employment: 51,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: Slower than average
Most significant source of training: Up to 1 month of on-the-job training

Motion picture projectionists
Set up and operate motion picture projection and sound-reproducing equipment to produce coordinated effects on screen.

1994 employment: 7,900
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: Up to 1 month of on-the-job training

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders
Operate or tend machines, such as filling, casing-running, ham rolling, preservative filling, baling, wrapping, and stuffing machines, to prepare industrial or consumer products, such as gas cylinders, meat and other food products, tobacco, insulation, ammunition, stuffed toys and athletic equipment, and upholstered pads, as end products or for storage and shipment.

1994 employment: 329,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: Slower than average
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Painting, coating, and decorating workers, hand
Paint, coat, and decorate, using handtools or hand-held power tools, a wide variety of manufactured items, such as furniture, glass and flatware, lamps, jewelry, books, or leather products.

1994 employment: 33,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: About as fast as average
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Paper goods machine setters and setup operators
Set up and operate paper goods machines to convert, saw, corrugate, band, wrap, box, stitch, form, or seal paper or paperboard sheets into products such as toilet tissue, towels, napkins, bags, envelopes, tubing, cartons, wax rolls, and containers.

1994 employment: 51,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Separating and still machine operators and tenders
Operate or tend machines, such as filter presses, shaker screens, centrifuges, condenser tubes, precipitator tanks, fermenting tanks, evaporating tanks, scrubbing towers, and batch stills, to extract, sort, or separate liquids, gases, or solid materials from other materials in order to recover a refined product or material.

1994 employment: 20,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Shipfitters
Lay out and fabricate metal structural parts, such as plates, bulk heads, and frames, and brace them in position within hull or ship for riveting or welding. May prepare molds and templates for fabrication of nonstandard parts.

1994 employment: 12,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: More than 12 months of on-the-job training

Shoe sewing machine operators and tenders
Operate or tend single, double, or multiple-needle stitching machines to join or decorate shoe parts, reinforce shoe parts, or attach buckles.

1994 employment: 14,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Solderers and brazers
Join together metal parts or components of metal products, and fill holes, indentations, and seams of fabricated metal products using hand soldering and brazing equipment as specified by job orders, work layouts, or blueprints.

1994 employment: 27,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: About as fast as average
Most significant source of training: Up to 1 month of on-the-job training

Soldering and brazing machine operators and setters
Operators and tenders: Operate or tend soldering and brazing machines to braze, solder, or spot-weld fabricated metal products or components as specified by job orders, work layouts, or blueprints. Setters and setup operators: Set up and operate soldering and brazing machines to bronze, solder, heat-treat, or spot-weld fabricated metal products or components as specified by job orders, work layouts, or blueprints.

1994 employment: 9,700
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Tire building machine operators
Operate machines, such as collapsible drum devices, to build pneumatic tires from rubber components, such as beads, ply stock, tread, and sidewalls.

1994 employment: 14,000
Projected 1994-2005 employment change: A decline
Most significant source of training: 1 to 12 months of on-the-job training

Other Occupations Not Studied in Detail

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