Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders
In short: today's best AI models could do about 6% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 94% of the time, stays with people.
Operate or tend equipment such as cooling and freezing units, refrigerators, batch freezers, and freezing tunnels, to cool or freeze products, food, blood plasma, and chemicals.
6,900 people do this job in the US. $41,330 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on2 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people38 h
Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 2 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 38 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 6%
- 0%
- 94%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 4%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 6%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 18 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 93% of this job's working time as physical work. For 86% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 49% in a purpose-built cell, 37% in a structured facility. 1.23 of 3, the 52nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 7%
- No robot shown 6%
- In a purpose-built cell 49%
- In a structured facility 37%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 18 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assemble equipment, and attach pipes, fittings, or valves, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RND Automation Modular Assembly Platform with Epson T3/G3 SCARA and C8 six-axis robots (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 15% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product consistency, temperature, air pressure, and machine speed.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, GEA CALLIFREEZE (S-Tec/A-Tec spiral and IQF freezers) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure or weigh specified amounts of ingredients or materials, and load them into tanks, vats, hoppers, or other equipment.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Flexicon BULK-OUT bulk bag discharger weigh-batching system with plant PLC/SCADA (Canbra Foods margarine plant) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect and flush lines with solutions or steam, and spray equipment with sterilizing solutions.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Clean-in-place (CIP) systems (single-use and reuse skids with spray balls/dynamic spray heads) (Industry standard; described by Oklahoma State University FAPC (Bowser), fact sheet FAPC-251) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Scrape, dislodge, or break excess frost, ice, or frozen product from equipment to prevent accumulation, using hands and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, CRYONOMIC COB71A / COB71AR automated dry ice blaster with 6-axis robot (Artimpex nv) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Robotiq Machine Tending Solution (UR cobot + Hand-E gripper + button activator) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Adjust machine or freezer speed and air intake to obtain desired consistency and amount of product.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Tetra Pak Continuous Freezer S1500 A2 / S700 A2 (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Stir material with spoons or paddles to mix ingredients or allow even cooling and prevent coagulation.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Lee Industries inclined mixing kettle with scraper-blade agitator (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Place or position containers into equipment, and remove containers after completion of cooling or freezing processes.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Carsoe Automatic Horizontal Plate Freezer (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Tetra Pak Continuous Freezers (ice cream freezers) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders10% now, 10% by 2028
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic20% now, 20% by 2028
- Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders8% now, 8% by 2028
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders7% now, 7% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 6% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 6% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Assemble equipment, and attach pipes, fittings, or valves, using hand tools; Monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product consistency, temperature, air pressure, and machine speed; and Measure or weigh specified amounts of ingredients or materials, and load them into tanks, vats, hoppers, or other equipment. Together such tasks are about 94% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 93% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 86% of the working time, 37% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.23 of 3. One example: GEA CALLIFREEZE (S-Tec/A-Tec spiral and IQF freezers) for "monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product consistency, temperature, air pressure, and machine speed". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 18 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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