Metal finishing, plating and coating machine operators
In the ILO's assessment few of the job's tasks can be done by generative AI, or the scores are too spread out to reach gradient 1 — generative AI does not meaningfully take over the core of the work.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Checking proper thickness of plating using micrometers, callipers or other devices recording data and writing production logs28
- Operating and monitoring electroplating equipment23
- Operating and monitoring hot-dip equipment used to coat iron and steel products22
- Operating and monitoring equipment used to spray molten metal or other substances onto metal products to provide a protective or decorative coating or to build up worn or damaged surfaces22
- Operating and monitoring equipment used to impart a rust-resistant finish to metal articles by treating them with chemicals and heating them19
- Operating and monitoring machines which automatically coat wire with non-ferrous metal18
- Preparing and mixing metalizing solutions according to formulas or specifications.17
- Operating and monitoring equipment which cleans metal articles in preparation for electroplating, galvanizing, enamelling or similar processes16
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Checking proper thickness of plating using micrometers, callipers or other devices recording data and writing production logs(28)
- Operating and monitoring electroplating equipment(23)
- Operating and monitoring hot-dip equipment used to coat iron and steel products(22)
- Operating and monitoring equipment used to spray molten metal or other substances onto metal products to provide a protective or decorative coating or to build up worn or damaged surfaces(22)
- Operating and monitoring equipment used to impart a rust-resistant finish to metal articles by treating them with chemicals and heating them(19)
- Operating and monitoring machines which automatically coat wire with non-ferrous metal(18)
- Preparing and mixing metalizing solutions according to formulas or specifications.(17)
- Operating and monitoring equipment which cleans metal articles in preparation for electroplating, galvanizing, enamelling or similar processes(16)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 20.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Checking proper thickness of plating using micrometers, callipers or other devices recording data and writing production logs
- • Operating and monitoring electroplating equipment
- • Operating and monitoring equipment which cleans metal articles in preparation for electroplating, galvanizing, enamelling or similar processes
- • Preparing and mixing metalizing solutions according to formulas or specifications.
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Stationary plant and machine operators group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Stationary plant and machine operators |
|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 3.9% · 114 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 3.7% · 171 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 3.3% · 254 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 3.3% · 33 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 3.2% · 167 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 3.1% · 81 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 3.0% · 159 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 2.8% · 19 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 2.8% · 47 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 2.7% · 462 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 2.6% · 620 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 2.3% · 59 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 2.0% · 594 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 2.0% · 58 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 1.9% · 427 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 1.9% · 784 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 1.8% · 93 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 1.7% · 26 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 1.5% · 46 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 1.5% · 64 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 1.4% · 12 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 1.3% · 61 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 1.2% · 34 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 1.2% · 55 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 1.1% · 59 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 1.0% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 0.8% · 288 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 0.8% · 3 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 0.8% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 0.6% · 63 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Plant and machine operators and assemblers). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland3,902
- Denmark3,581
- Norway3,391
- Iceland3,272
- Ireland3,013
- Belgium3,003
- Luxembourg2,848
- Finland2,711
- Austria2,708
- Netherlands2,689
- Germany2,646
- Sweden2,578
- Italy2,397
- EU272,188
- Spain2,169
- France2,125
- Slovenia1,961
- Poland1,931
- Lithuania1,895
- Cyprus1,832
- Malta1,828
- Greece1,726
- Estonia1,653
- Romania1,652
- Hungary1,630
- Croatia1,623
- Czechia1,621
- Latvia1,590
- Slovakia1,571
- Portugal1,289
- Bulgaria1,106
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Stationary plant and machine operators group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?