Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders
Also called: Central Melt Specialist, Furnace Operator, Melter, Vacuum MelterOperate or tend furnaces, such as gas, oil, coal, electric-arc or electric induction, open-hearth, or oxygen furnaces, to melt and refine metal before casting or to produce specified types of steel.
On a phone, press and hold a picture to save it to Photos.
opens your phone's share sheet, where you can save both to Photos
What the data says: AI could halve the time on 1 of its 15 tasks, and jobs are projected to shrink 2.9% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 3.5% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other metal workers and plastic workers”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.4 hires for every 10 job openings in durable goods manufacturing, which employs about 99% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.5.4 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $54,260 | $45,830 to $60,120 | 1,250 |
| Arizona | $59,830 | $48,760 to $60,710 | 490 |
| Arkansas | $39,920 | $36,840 to $45,930 | 490 |
| California | $58,310 | $48,750 to $69,830 | 280 |
| Connecticut | $50,510 | $47,030 to $56,940 | 60 |
| Florida | $49,780 | $46,950 to $59,740 | 700 |
| Georgia | $47,750 | $37,610 to $58,700 | 230 |
| Illinois | $51,020 | $47,520 to $59,350 | 590 |
| Indiana | $58,300 | $45,620 to $65,040 | 1,520 |
| Iowa | $57,030 | $49,020 to $60,020 | 330 |
| Kansas | $44,800 | $38,340 to $50,230 | 100 |
| Kentucky | $59,040 | $49,220 to $63,360 | 810 |
| Massachusetts | $58,480 | $47,010 to $65,910 | 240 |
| Michigan | $44,900 | $39,840 to $54,620 | 680 |
| Minnesota | $75,880 | $50,770 to $79,070 | 200 |
| Mississippi | $39,610 | $35,860 to $45,940 | 120 |
| Missouri | $55,480 | $51,570 to $62,780 | 200 |
| Nebraska | $52,800 | $43,250 to $64,800 | 60 |
| Nevada | $56,790 | $46,290 to $62,700 | 130 |
| New Hampshire | $46,380 | $44,060 to $54,880 | 60 |
| New Jersey | $75,020 | $60,430 to $79,110 | 150 |
| New Mexico | $50,260 | $43,240 to $55,830 | 60 |
| New York | $66,440 | $61,270 to $78,270 | 760 |
| North Carolina | $60,780 | $44,930 to $61,780 | 390 |
| Ohio | $55,080 | $47,960 to $62,670 | 1,790 |
| Oklahoma | $48,890 | $43,800 to $55,080 | 110 |
| Oregon | $64,410 | $51,220 to $81,680 | 400 |
| Pennsylvania | $55,910 | $48,740 to $61,950 | 1,230 |
| South Carolina | $44,160 | $39,180 to $58,130 | 290 |
| Tennessee | $57,490 | $46,190 to $68,880 | 730 |
| Texas | $46,670 | $40,080 to $56,670 | 600 |
| Utah | $60,510 | $47,670 to $70,990 | 330 |
| Virginia | $57,000 | $43,950 to $69,230 | 110 |
| Washington | $62,850 | $49,480 to $85,370 | 330 |
| West Virginia | $56,290 | $44,170 to $57,480 | 70 |
| Wisconsin | $48,260 | $46,270 to $55,960 | 540 |
Nationally: $54,430. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 1 of its 15 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Inspect furnaces and equipment to locate defects and wear. | Not published |
| AI + software | Record production data, and maintain production logs. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Observe air and temperature gauges or metal color and fluidity, and turn fuel valves or adjust controls to maintain required temperatures. | Not published |
| Not much | Regulate supplies of fuel and air, or control flow of electric current and water coolant to heat furnaces and adjust temperatures. | Not published |
| Not much | Operate controls to move or discharge metal workpieces from furnaces. | Not published |
| Not much | Draw smelted metal samples from furnaces or kettles for analysis, and calculate types and amounts of materials needed to ensure that materials meet specifications. | Not published |
See all 15 tasks
| Not much | Drain, transfer, or remove molten metal from furnaces, and place it into molds, using hoists, pumps, or ladles. | Not published |
| Not much | Weigh materials to be charged into furnaces, using scales. | Not published |
| Not much | Kindle fires, and shovel fuel and other materials into furnaces or onto conveyors by hand, with hoists, or by directing crane operators. | Not published |
| Not much | Prepare material to load into furnaces, including cleaning, crushing, or applying chemicals, by using crushing machines, shovels, rakes, or sprayers. | Not published |
| Not much | Remove impurities from the surface of molten metal, using strainers. | Not published |
| Not much | Sprinkle chemicals over molten metal to bring impurities to the surface. | Not published |
| Not much | Direct work crews in the cleaning and repair of furnace walls and flooring. | Not published |
| Not much | Scrape accumulations of metal oxides from floors, molds, and crucibles, and sift and store them for reclamation. | Not published |
| Not much | Observe operations inside furnaces, using television screens, to ensure that problems do not occur. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 1 of the 15 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 15 tasks fall under 14 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare industrial materials for processing or use | |||
| Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance | |||
| Monitor equipment operation | |||
| Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing | |||
| Determine resource needs of projects or operations | |||
| Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment | |||
| Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects | |||
| Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas |
Show all 14 activities
| Maintain operational records | |||
| Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures | |||
| Inspect commercial, industrial, or production systems or equipment | |||
| Collect samples of products or materials | |||
| Signal others to coordinate work activities | |||
| Operate lifting or moving equipment |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- Data or a spreadsheet33%
- A document or report19%
- A plan or strategy14%
- An app or website9%
- A script or snippet7%
How they worked with Claude
37% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for metal-refining furnace operators and tenders specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 67,935 moves out
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
- 2 Chief Executives Very high +3.2% 5%
- 3 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 5%
- 4 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 5%
- 5 Marketing Managers Very high +6.9% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 79,550 moves in
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
- 2 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 5%
- 3 Marketing Managers Very high +6.9% 3%
- 4 Chief Executives Very high +3.2% 3%
- 5 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 100% not published
O*NET marks 100% of the answers as too uncertain to publish, so the parts shown don't add up to 100%.
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 20 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 14% less than high school
- 52% high school
- 21% some college
- 8% associate's
- 4% bachelor's
- 1% master's
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other metal workers and plastic workers” · 3,391 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other metal workers and plastic workers”
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
36.7% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a license | not published | |
| a certification | not published | |
| an educational certificate | not published |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 2 registered apprenticeships in this occupation (CUPOLA TENDER; FURNACE OPERATOR). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/51-4051.00