Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders
SOC Code: 51-6042
Shoe Machine Operators and Tenderss inspect finished products to ensure that shoes have been completed according to specifications. This career typically requires moderate-term on-the-job training (months to 1 year). With an AI-proof score of 86.8/100, this role has high resilience to automation. Key skills include Reading Comprehension, Operation and Control, Operation and Control.
AI-Proof Score: 86.8 — Very High
💰
Median Salary
$38,160
📈
Job Growth
-3.7%
⏱️
Training Time
Moderate-term on-the-job training (months to 1 year)
🎓
Job Zone
Zone 2 / 5
💵
Training Cost
~$5,000
Key Skills
- •Reading Comprehension
- •Operation and Control
- •Active Listening
- •Critical Thinking
- •Monitoring
- •Operations Monitoring
- •Quality Control Analysis
- •Equipment Maintenance
Common Tasks
- ✓Inspect finished products to ensure that shoes have been completed according to specifications.
- ✓Align parts to be stitched, following seams, edges, or markings, before positioning them under needles.
- ✓Operate or tend machines to join, decorate, reinforce, or finish shoes and shoe parts.
- ✓Remove and examine shoes, shoe parts, and designs to verify conformance to specifications such as proper embedding of stitches in channels.
- ✓Switch on machines, lower pressure feet or rollers to secure parts, and start machine stitching, using hand, foot, or knee controls.
Training & Resources
Why AI-Proof?
- ✅Requires hands-on physical presence and dexterity
- ✅Demands human empathy, judgment, and trust
- ✅Operates in unpredictable, variable environments
- ✅Social and regulatory barriers to full automation