Career
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Run machines that plate and coat metal.
$43,960
Median pay
-9.7%
Job growth, 2025–35
2,500
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Immerse workpieces in coating solutions or liquid metal or plastic for specified times.
- Adjust dials to regulate flow of current and voltage supplied to terminals to control plating processes.
- Inspect coated or plated areas for defects, such as air bubbles or uneven coverage.
- 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.
- Observe gauges to ensure that machines are operating properly, making adjustments or stopping machines when problems occur.
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?
“Immerse workpieces in coating solutions or liquid metal or plastic for specified times.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operations Monitoring, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Operation and Control.
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 $43,960 a year and 2,500 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$48,250 · +2.5%
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$48,750 · -9.5%
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$47,920 · -8.9%
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$44,350 · -3.4%
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic$46,170 · +5.8%
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.