Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend machines that knit, loop, weave, or draw in textiles.
13,030 people do this job in the US. $39,530 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 10%
- 1%
- 89%
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, 9%. Today's estimate: 9%.
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 . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set up, or set up and operate textile machines that perform textile processing and manufacturing operations such as winding, twisting, knitting, weaving, bonding, or stretching.Done daily by most who do it. | 19% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Thread yarn, thread, and fabric through guides, needles, and rollers of machines for weaving, knitting, or other processing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Start machines, monitor operations, and make adjustments as needed.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove defects in cloth by cutting and pulling out filling.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Install, level, and align machine components such as gears, chains, guides, dies, cutters, or needles to set up machinery for operation.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine looms to determine causes of loom stoppage, such as warp filling, harness breaks, or mechanical defects.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect products to ensure that specifications are met and to determine if machines need adjustment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe woven cloth to detect weaving defects.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect machinery to determine whether repairs are needed.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Program electronic equipment.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 2.5 h | 86%Half by now | |
| Clean, oil, and lubricate machines, using air hoses, cleaning solutions, rags, oil cans, or grease guns.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace worn or defective needles and other components, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | 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.
- Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders7% now, 7% by 2028
- Sewing Machine Operators2% now, 2% by 2028
- Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders13% now, 14% by 2028
- Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders0% now, 0% by 2028
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders11% now, 11% 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).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).