Bleaching, dyeing and fabric cleaning 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).
- Keying in processing instructions to programme electronic equipment65
- Observing display screens, control panels, equipment, and cloth entering or exiting processes to determine if equipment is operating correctly28
- Operating and monitoring machines that treat silk to give it body and weight19
- Operating and monitoring machines that stretch or impart lustre or other type of finish to textiles19
- Operating and monitoring machines that impregnate textiles with chemicals to render them waterproof19
- Starting and controlling machines and equipment to bleach, dye or otherwise process and finish fabric, yarn, thread and/or other textile goods18
- Operating machines that comb, dry and polish furs, and clean, sterilize and fluff feathers and blankets17
- Tending machines that shrink woven or knitted cloth to predetermined size or strengthen the weave by interlocking the fibres16
- Dyeing articles to change or restore their colours15
- Tending a variety of automatic machines that comb and polish furs14
- Tending and regulating equipment that fumigates and removes foreign matter from furs12
- Cleaning machine filters and lubricating equipment.12
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.
- Keying in processing instructions to programme electronic equipment(65)
- Observing display screens, control panels, equipment, and cloth entering or exiting processes to determine if equipment is operating correctly(28)
- Operating and monitoring machines that treat silk to give it body and weight(19)
- Operating and monitoring machines that stretch or impart lustre or other type of finish to textiles(19)
- Operating and monitoring machines that impregnate textiles with chemicals to render them waterproof(19)
- Starting and controlling machines and equipment to bleach, dye or otherwise process and finish fabric, yarn, thread and/or other textile goods(18)
- Operating machines that comb, dry and polish furs, and clean, sterilize and fluff feathers and blankets(17)
- Tending machines that shrink woven or knitted cloth to predetermined size or strengthen the weave by interlocking the fibres(16)
- Dyeing articles to change or restore their colours(15)
- Tending a variety of automatic machines that comb and polish furs(14)
- Tending and regulating equipment that fumigates and removes foreign matter from furs(12)
- Cleaning machine filters and lubricating equipment.(12)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 21.)
About 8% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Keying in processing instructions to programme electronic equipment
- • Observing display screens, control panels, equipment, and cloth entering or exiting processes to determine if equipment is operating correctly
- • Tending and regulating equipment that fumigates and removes foreign matter from furs
- • Cleaning machine filters and lubricating equipment.
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
- Weaving and knitting machine operators16
- Shoemaking and related machine operators16
- Laundry machine operators16
- Textile, fur and leather products machine operators not elsewhere classified16
- Fibre preparing, spinning and winding machine operators15
- Sewing machine operators15
- Fur and leather preparing machine operators15
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?