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Boston Career Explorer

Production

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Set up, operate, or tend heating equipment, such as heat-treating furnaces, flame-hardening machines, induction machines, soaking pits, or vacuum equipment to temper, harden, anneal, or heat treat metal or plastic objects.

Also called: Batch Heat Treat Operator, Burner, Coating Line Worker, Furnace Operator, Heat Treat Furnace Operator, Heat Treat Operator

Median pay in Greater Boston
$55,650
$26.76/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
110
Massachusetts 2024–2034
−12.4%
20 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$45,410$48,590$55,650$82,350$93,260

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Read production schedules and work orders to determine processing sequences, furnace temperatures, and heat cycle requirements for objects to be heat-treated.
  • Record times that parts are removed from furnaces to document that objects have attained specified temperatures for specified times.
  • Adjust controls to maintain temperatures and heating times, using thermal instruments and charts, dials and gauges of furnaces, and color of stock in furnaces to make setting determinations.
  • Start conveyors and open furnace doors to load stock, or signal crane operators to uncover soaking pits and lower ingots into them.
  • Set up and operate or tend machines, such as furnaces, baths, flame-hardening machines, and electronic induction machines, that harden, anneal, and heat-treat metal.
  • Remove parts from furnaces after specified times, and air dry or cool parts in water, oil brine, or other baths.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure13 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 13
  • Language-model AIOE 12
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 14

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. The tasks AI tools might touch are reading work orders and schedules and recording heat times. Most of the job is hands-on: running furnaces, judging heat by gauges and the color of the metal, and loading stock. Federal notes link the expected drop in jobs to robotics and automated machinery that raise output per worker.

Likely to change

  • Reading work orders and heat schedules
  • Recording furnace times and temperatures

Still relies on people

  • Judging heat by gauges and metal color
  • Loading stock and running furnaces safely

What federal projections say

“Productivity change - share decreases as improvements in robotics, CNC operated machinery, and other industrial equipment increase efficiency, allowing more output to be produced with the same amount of labor.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

    You already work with heat and metal. Welding adds inspecting workpieces and safe work habits, with higher pay and projected job growth.

    Pay difference
    +$8,120 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +4.2%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

  • Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists

    Your comfort with machinery and gauges carries over to hand and power tools and part inspection, at a higher median wage.

    Pay difference
    +$20,120 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +5.1%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

  • Structural Iron and Steel Workers

    Reading work orders and working with metal carry over to reading blueprints and aligning steel. This apprenticeship path offers high pay and projected growth.

    Pay difference
    +$65,190 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +6.1%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

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