Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
In short: today's best AI models could do about 11% 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 89% of the time, stays with people.
Set up, operate, or tend welding, soldering, or brazing machines or robots that weld, braze, solder, or heat treat metal products, components, or assemblies. Includes workers who operate laser cutters or laser-beam machines.
31,600 people do this job in the US. $47,920 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on4 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people36 h
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 4 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 36 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Compute and record settings for new work, applying knowledge of metal properties, principles of welding, and shop mathematics (about 2 h); Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications (about 1 h); Give directions to other workers regarding machine set-up and use (under an hour).
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.
- 11%
- 0%
- 89%
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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 11%. Today's estimate: 11%.
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 29 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 86% 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: 75% in a purpose-built cell, 11% in a structured facility. 0.98 of 3, the 127th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 14%
- In a purpose-built cell 75%
- In a structured facility 11%
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 . 29 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devise or build fixtures or jigs used to hold parts in place during welding, brazing, or soldering.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, TRUMPF TruLaser with LiftMaster/SortMaster automation (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ABB body-in-white robotic spot welding solution (GAC Motor Yi-chang plant) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Lay out, fit, or connect parts to be bonded, calculating production measurements, as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Figure 02 humanoid (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 25 min8 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean, lubricate, maintain, and adjust equipment to maintain efficient operation, using air hoses, cleaning fluids, and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Tregaskiss TT4E reamer (robotic nozzle cleaning station) (Bernard/Tregaskiss) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 33 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Start, monitor, and adjust robotic welding production lines.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Bosch Rexroth PSQ 6000 / PRC7000 adaptive resistance welding control (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Select, position, align, and bolt jigs, holding fixtures, guides, or stops onto machines, using measuring instruments and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, EROWA Robot (Compact/Dynamic/Leonardo) automatic loading systems (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare metal surfaces or workpieces, using hand-operated equipment, such as grinders, cutters, or drills.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Teqram EasyGrinder (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 17 min4 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Compute and record settings for new work, applying knowledge of metal properties, principles of welding, and shop mathematics.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Assemble, align, and clamp workpieces into holding fixtures to bond, heat-treat, or solder fabricated metal components.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Figure 02 (with Helix) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 17 min4 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Anneal finished workpieces to relieve internal stress.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Big Sky Engineering Custom Robotic Furnace Loader (BSE Job 1749, FANUC M-20iA/12) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Inspect, measure, or test completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Xiris WI-2200 / WI-2000P weld inspection systems (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 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.
- Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers11% now, 11% by 2028
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic18% now, 18% by 2028
- Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters4% now, 4% by 2028
- Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic38% now, 38% by 2028
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers4% now, 4% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers8% now, 8% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing4,270 people
- Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)3,980 people
- Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)3,850 people
- Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)2,610 people
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing1,930 people
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 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 11% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 11% 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 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, 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: Compute and record settings for new work, applying knowledge of metal properties, principles of welding, and shop mathematics (100% of the task's time now); Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications (100% of the task's time now); and Give directions to other workers regarding machine set-up and use (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, 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: Devise or build fixtures or jigs used to hold parts in place during welding, brazing, or soldering; Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies; and Lay out, fit, or connect parts to be bonded, calculating production measurements, as necessary. Together such tasks are about 89% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, 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 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 86% 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, 11% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.98 of 3. One example: Figure 02 humanoid robot for "transfer components, metal products, or assemblies, using moving equipment". 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 29 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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