Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend plating machines to coat metal or plastic products with chromium, zinc, copper, cadmium, nickel, or other metal to protect or decorate surfaces. Typically, the product being coated is immersed in molten metal or an electrolytic solution.
32,410 people do this job in the US. $43,960 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 6%
- 0%
- 94%
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, 2%. 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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 33 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set up, operate, or tend plating or coating machines to coat metal or plastic products with chromium, zinc, copper, cadmium, nickel, or other metal to protect or decorate surfaces.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 26% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean and maintain equipment, using water hoses and scrapers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove objects from solutions at periodic intervals and observe objects to verify conformance to specifications.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe gauges to ensure that machines are operating properly, making adjustments or stopping machines when problems occur.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Replace worn parts and adjust equipment components, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine sizes and compositions of objects to be plated, and amounts of electrical current and time required.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Rinse coated objects in cleansing liquids and dry them with cloths, centrifugal driers, or by tumbling in sawdust-filled barrels.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure, mark, and mask areas to be excluded from plating.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect coated or plated areas for defects, such as air bubbles or uneven coverage.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 3% | 10 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Monitor and measure thicknesses of electroplating on component parts to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Test machinery to ensure that it is operating properly.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Immerse objects to be coated or plated into cleaning solutions, or spray objects with conductive solutions to prepare them for plating.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 33 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.
- Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders1% now, 1% by 2028
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic20% now, 20% by 2028
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders11% now, 11% by 2028
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic6% now, 6% by 2028
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic0% now, 0% by 2028
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers5% now, 5% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Coating, Engraving, Heat Treating, and Allied Activities20,280 people
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing1,740 people
- Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)1,180 people
- Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)1,040 people
- Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing920 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).