Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders
Operate or tend heating equipment other than basic metal, plastic, or food processing equipment. Includes activities such as annealing glass, drying lumber, curing rubber, removing moisture from materials, or boiling soap.
14,280 people do this job in the US. $48,040 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 10%
- 4%
- 86%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h 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, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 10%.
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor equipment operation, gauges, and panel lights to detect deviations from standards.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 18% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Melt or refine metal before casting, calculating required temperatures, and observe metal color, adjusting controls as necessary to maintain required temperatures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove products from equipment, manually or using hoists, and prepare them for storage, shipment, or additional processing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Press and adjust controls to activate, set, and regulate equipment according to specifications.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean, lubricate, and adjust equipment, using scrapers, solvents, air hoses, oil, and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Load equipment receptacles or conveyors with material to be processed, by hand or using hoists.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Transport materials and products to and from work areas, manually or using carts, handtrucks, or hoists.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Calculate amounts of materials to be loaded into furnaces, adjusting amounts as necessary for specific conditions.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Examine or test samples of processed substances, or collect samples for laboratory testing, to ensure conformance to specifications.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Stop equipment and clear blockages or jams, using fingers, wire, or hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Direct crane operators and crew members to load vessels with materials to be processed.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Confer with supervisors or other equipment operators to report equipment malfunctions or to resolve production problems.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 38 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.
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders6% now, 6% by 2028
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders14% now, 14% by 2028
- Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders8% now, 8% by 2028
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic20% now, 20% by 2028
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers5% now, 5% 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).