Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Production Occupations- O*NET-SOC code
- 51-4122.00
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.
AI exposure
- Data source: BLSPublished: 2026-08
Low· relative
LowFour relative bandsVery highGroup-level value
Scale, basis and source
Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)
831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band
- Data source: AnthropicPublished: 2026-03
0.000
0.000Range of values carried here0.745Scale, basis and source
Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published
Mapped onto O*NET tasks
Published per SOC 2018 occupation; every O*NET occupation with the same SOC 2018 code carries this value
- Data source: ILOPublished: 2025
0.13
0.09Range of values carried here0.70Group-level value
Scale, basis and source
Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published
Published per ISCO-08 unit group. Linked to this occupation, wholly or in part, by applying U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC) as published
What kind of figure this source publishes
The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.
AI exposure (OpenAI rubric)
29 rated tasks · 3 tasks with β ≥ 0.5 (10.3%)
β = direct exposure (E1) + 0.5 × exposure when tools are available (E2), per the source repository's definition.
- Source unit: O*NET 27.2 tasks → O*NET 31.0 occupation code
- All rated tasks are in the O*NET 31.0 task list.
- Source
- OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" exposure rubric
- Release
- gh-main-0471612
- License
- MIT License, Copyright (c) 2024 OpenAI
Tasks
Task statements from the O*NET® 31.0 Database, core tasks first.
| Task | Type | β (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Turn and press knobs and buttons or enter operating instructions into computers to adjust and start welding machines. | Core | 0 |
| Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies. | Core | 0 |
| Give directions to other workers regarding machine set-up and use. | Core | 0 |
| Correct problems by adjusting controls or by stopping machines and opening holding devices. | Core | 0 |
| Inspect, measure, or test completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices. | Core | 0 |
| Record operational information on specified production reports. | Core | 1 |
| Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications. | Core | 0.5 |
| Assemble, align, and clamp workpieces into holding fixtures to bond, heat-treat, or solder fabricated metal components. | Core | 0 |
| Lay out, fit, or connect parts to be bonded, calculating production measurements, as necessary. | Core | 0 |
| Conduct trial runs before welding, soldering, or brazing, and make necessary adjustments to equipment. | Core | 0 |
| Remove completed workpieces or parts from machinery, using hand tools. | Core | 0 |
| Observe meters, gauges, or machine operations to ensure that soldering or brazing processes meet specifications. | Core | 0 |
| Select, position, align, and bolt jigs, holding fixtures, guides, or stops onto machines, using measuring instruments and hand tools. | Core | 0 |
| Select torch tips, alloys, flux, coil, tubing, or wire, according to metal types or thicknesses, data charts, or records. | Core | 0 |
| Prepare metal surfaces or workpieces, using hand-operated equipment, such as grinders, cutters, or drills. | Core | 0 |
| Clean, lubricate, maintain, and adjust equipment to maintain efficient operation, using air hoses, cleaning fluids, and hand tools. | Core | 0 |
| Set dials and timing controls to regulate electrical current, gas flow pressure, heating or cooling cycles, or shut-off. | Core | 0 |
| Devise or build fixtures or jigs used to hold parts in place during welding, brazing, or soldering. | Core | 0 |
| Transfer components, metal products, or assemblies, using moving equipment. | Core | 0 |
| Mark weld points and positions of components on workpieces, using rules, squares, templates, or scribes. | Core | 0 |
| Load or feed workpieces into welding machines to join or bond components. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Start, monitor, and adjust robotic welding production lines. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Dress electrodes, using tip dressers, files, emery cloths, or dressing wheels. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Compute and record settings for new work, applying knowledge of metal properties, principles of welding, and shop mathematics. | Supplemental | 1 |
| Tend auxiliary equipment used in welding processes. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Fill hoppers and position spouts to direct flow of flux or manually brush flux onto seams of workpieces. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Add chemicals or materials to workpieces or machines to facilitate bonding or to cool workpieces. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Anneal finished workpieces to relieve internal stress. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Immerse completed workpieces into water or acid baths to cool and clean components. | Supplemental | 0 |
Occupation information
Sources and attribution
This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database (https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html) by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. AI Changing Work has modified all or some of this information: the O*NET-SOC code, title and task statements are reproduced in English without change; task-type labels are shown in the page's language and tasks are listed core first; any Korean occupation title shown on the Korean-language page is AI Changing Work's translation; any KSCO-8 unit groups linked to this occupation were paired with it by AI Changing Work's judgment, and the relation labels and statuses are AI Changing Work's additions. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Any AI exposure figures on this page are published by third parties, not by AI Changing Work, and none is part of the O*NET information. OpenAI publishes task-level scores (MIT License) for O*NET 27.2 task statements; each is shown next to the O*NET 31.0 task statement with the same task ID, whose wording can differ from the 27.2 statement that was scored. OpenAI also publishes occupation-level scores for O*NET-SOC codes in the same release, and any such score is shown on the O*NET occupation with the same code. Anthropic publishes an observed exposure index in the Anthropic Economic Index (CC-BY), and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes relative AI exposure categories (public domain); both are published per SOC code, and each value is shown on every O*NET occupation with that code. The International Labour Organization publishes a generative AI exposure index in ILO Working Paper 140 (CC BY 4.0) for ISCO-08 unit groups; AI Changing Work links those groups to O*NET occupations by applying the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC and 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC crosswalks as published, without case-by-case selection, and these crosswalks match many groups only in part. Where several unit groups are linked, each group's published value is listed, and any summary shows only the lowest and highest of those values with the number of groups; no exposure figure is averaged or recalculated. Any employment figures are published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the SOC group containing this occupation. Each source is credited where its figures are shown.
O*NET OnLine: 51-4122.00 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
KSCO 코드·명칭: 한국표준직업분류(제8차 개정) — 통계청 고시 제2024-328호 (2024-07-01 고시, 2025-01-01 시행). 저작권법 제7조 제2호의 고시 항목이다. 명칭 표기(가운뎃점·띄어쓰기)는 해설서 2차 정오 반영판의 표기를 따랐으며, 고시 항목표와는 18개 명칭에서 가운뎃점 글리프나 띄어쓰기만 다르다. 통계청은 2025년 10월 국가데이터처로 개편되었다. 이 페이지의 KSCO 연결은 통계청·국가데이터처의 공식 연계표가 아니다.