AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing?

Task-level automation exposure for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing: 25 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

17% weighted task index

25 of 25 tasks scored

Median Salary

$43,380 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

61,420 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-2.5% employment change

5,300 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 48 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$21,840 – $52,980

Highest medians

Washington $52,980

Minnesota $51,540

Iowa $51,200

New Jersey $49,680

Oregon $49,480

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $21,840

Texas $33,840

Tennessee $35,290

Oklahoma $35,990

Alabama $36,750

State figures come from the 51-7042 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 17%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 71%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 9%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 0%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 24/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

25 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 0%

0 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 11%

3 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 89%

22 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#12279 · Core · 10% automatable

Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.

physical manipulation — Woodworking equipment needs dexterity and material feel

Operate woodworking equipment.

#12281 · Core · 28% automatable

Examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges.

physical manipulation — Hands-on dimensional measurement of workpieces

Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.

#12274 · Core · 20% automatable

Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.

physical manipulation — Operating production equipment physically on site

Conduct test runs of production equipment. Operate woodworking equipment.

#12278 · Core · 25% automatable

Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.

visual inspection — Physical product flaw monitoring is on-machine

Monitor equipment operation to ensure that products are not flawed.

#12291 · Core · 18% automatable

Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.

visual inspection — Lumber inspection requires physical handling

Inspect lumber or raw woodstock.

#12277 · Core · 15% automatable

Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.

physical manipulation — Physical control setting for cutting

Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications.

#12282 · Core · 10% automatable

Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.

physical manipulation — Physical control setting for cutting

Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment. Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications.

#12285 · Core · 15% automatable

Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.

physical manipulation — Physical control setting for cutting

Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications.

#12275 · Core · 49% automatable

Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.

decision support — Input material selection from specs; human approves

Determine production equipment settings. Select production input materials.

#12276 · Core · 5% automatable

Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.

physical manipulation — Feeding materials into equipment is physical

Feed materials or products into or through equipment.

#12284 · Core · 4% automatable

Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.

physical manipulation — Maneuvering workpieces needs hands-on control

Maneuver workpieces in equipment during production.

#12280 · Core · 55% automatable

Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.

decision support — Equipment selection against specs; human verifies fit

Select production equipment according to product specifications.

#12287 · Core · 9% automatable

Remove and replace worn parts, bits, belts, sandpaper, or shaping tools.

physical manipulation — Hands-on removal and fitting of worn components

Remove accessories, tools, or other parts from equipment. Replace worn equipment components.

#12288 · Core · 5% automatable

Secure woodstock against a guide or in a holding device, place woodstock on a conveyor, or dump woodstock in a hopper to feed woodstock into machines.

physical manipulation — Mounting workpieces is physical loading

Load materials into production equipment. Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment.

#12283 · Core · 8% automatable

Inspect and mark completed workpieces and stack them on pallets, in boxes, or on conveyors so that they can be moved to the next workstation.

physical manipulation — Marking workpieces is hands-on physical task

Mark products, workpieces, or equipment with identifying information. Stack finished items for further processing or shipment.

#12286 · Core · 18% automatable

Inspect pulleys, drive belts, guards, or fences on machines to ensure that machines will operate safely.

visual inspection — Physical inspection of production machinery in situ

Inspect production equipment.

#12289 · Core · 7% automatable

Clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas.

physical manipulation — Physical production equipment maintenance

Clean work areas. Clean production equipment. Maintain production or processing equipment.

#12290 · Core · 5% automatable

Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.

physical manipulation — Mounting tools requires hands-on setup

Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment. Set equipment guides, stops, spacers, or other fixtures.

#12295 · Core · 8% automatable

Trim wood parts according to specifications, using planes, chisels, or wood files or sanders.

physical manipulation — Manual trimming of workpieces

Trim excess material from workpieces.

#20823 · Core · 10% automatable

Grease or oil woodworking machines.

physical manipulation — Manual lubrication of production equipment

Lubricate production equipment.

#12296 · Supplemental · 6% automatable

Unclamp workpieces and remove them from machines.

physical manipulation — Physically extracting parts from production equipment

Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.

#12297 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Start machines and move levers to engage hydraulic lifts that press woodstocks into desired forms and disengage lifts after appropriate drying times.

physical manipulation — Woodworking equipment needs dexterity and material feel

Operate woodworking equipment.

#12293 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Operate gluing machines to glue pieces of wood together, or to press and affix wood veneer to wood surfaces.

physical manipulation — Woodworking equipment needs dexterity and material feel

Operate woodworking equipment.

#12292 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Set up, program, or control computer-aided design (CAD) or computer numerical control (CNC) machines.

decision support — Programming production equipment needs physical setup and verification

Program equipment to perform production tasks.

#12298 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Control hoists to remove parts or products from work stations.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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