Career
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Run machines that shape metal and plastic.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Measure and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance to specifications, adjusting controls as necessary to alter products.
- Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.
- Determine setup procedures and select machine dies and parts, according to specifications.
- Troubleshoot, maintain, and make minor repairs to equipment.
- Change dies on extruding machines, according to production line changes.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Measure and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance to specifications, adjusting controls as necessary to alter products.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Monitoring, Quality Control Analysis.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $47,720 a year and 5,400 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Machine Tool Technology/MachinistCIP 48.0501
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers$46,350 · -3.3%
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$44,350 · -3.4%
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$46,330 · -10.5%
- Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$47,180 · +0.6%
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$45,760 · +1.5%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.