AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 51-6021.00

Will AI replace Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials?

Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials: AI can already handle 1 of 28 tasks; most of the work is hands-on, and the part AI can address mostly needs a standard-tier model.

Have a team in this role?

Get your free 10-role sample: send this role and up to nine others, and a founder sends a board-pack PDF within two business days.

Get your free 10-role sample Book a 15-minute call

Every task, scored

The 28 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials, from most to least exposed. 1 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.

Task AI exposure Evidence Model tier Importance
Examine and measure finished articles to verify conformance to standards, using measuring devices such as tape measures and micrometers. 80 Estimated Standard 4.2
Clean and maintain pressing machines, using cleaning solutions and lubricants. 20 Estimated Efficient 4.1
Select, install, and adjust machine components, including pressing forms, rollers, and guides, using hoists and hand tools. 20 Estimated Standard 3.6
Hang, fold, package, and tag finished articles for delivery to customers. 15 Estimated No tier 4.6
Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles. 15 Estimated No tier 4.6
Straighten, smooth, or shape materials to prepare them for pressing. 15 Estimated No tier 4.5
Remove finished pieces from pressing machines and hang or stack them for cooling, or forward them for additional processing. 15 Estimated No tier 4.5
Finish pleated garments, determining sizes of pleats from evidence of old pleats or from work orders, using machine presses or hand irons. 15 Estimated No tier 4.5
Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed. 15 Estimated No tier 4.5
Shrink, stretch, or block articles by hand to conform to original measurements, using forms, blocks, and steam. 15 Estimated No tier 4.4
Identify and treat spots on garments. 15 Estimated No tier 4.4
Finish fancy garments such as evening gowns and costumes, using hand irons to produce high quality finishes. 15 Estimated No tier 4.4
Push and pull irons over surfaces of articles to smooth or shape them. 15 Estimated No tier 4.4
Finish pants, jackets, shirts, skirts and other dry-cleaned and laundered articles, using hand irons. 15 Estimated No tier 4.3
Slide material back and forth over heated, metal, ball-shaped forms to smooth and press portions of garments that cannot be satisfactorily pressed with flat pressers or hand irons. 15 Estimated No tier 4.3
Select appropriate pressing machines, based on garment properties such as heat tolerance. 15 Estimated No tier 4.3
Use covering cloths to prevent equipment from damaging delicate fabrics. 15 Estimated No tier 4.3
Spray water over fabric to soften fibers when not using steam irons. 15 Estimated No tier 4.2
Position materials such as cloth garments, felt, or straw on tables, dies, or feeding mechanisms of pressing machines, or on ironing boards or work tables. 15 Estimated No tier 4.2
Moisten materials to soften and smooth them. 15 Estimated No tier 4.1
Finish velvet garments by steaming them on bucks of hot-head presses or steam tables, and brushing pile (nap) with handbrushes. 15 Estimated No tier 4.1
Measure fabric to specifications, cut uneven edges with shears, fold material, and press it with an iron to form a heading. 15 Estimated No tier 4.1
Insert heated metal forms into ties and touch up rough places with hand irons. 15 Estimated No tier 4.1
Press ties on small pressing machines. 15 Estimated No tier 4.1
Activate and adjust machine controls to regulate temperature and pressure of rollers, ironing shoes, or plates, according to specifications. 15 Estimated No tier 4.1
Block or shape knitted garments after cleaning. 15 Estimated No tier 4.1
Brush materials made of suede, leather, or felt to remove spots or to raise and smooth naps. 15 Estimated No tier 4.0
Sew ends of new material to leaders or to ends of material in pressing machines, using sewing machines. 15 Estimated No tier 4.0

Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 28 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 28 of 28. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.

The model tier this role needs

A standard-tier model or lower covers 10% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 10% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 90% is hands-on.

Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.

Wages, employment and outlook

US employment
26,120
Median annual wage
$35,060
Middle half of earners
$29,870 to $37,940
Projected change, 2024 to 2034
-13.5%

Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.

Adjacent roles

The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.

Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.

Questions about Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials and AI

Will AI replace Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials?

AI already handles 1 of the 28 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 18 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by -13.5% from 2024 to 2034.

What is the AI exposure of Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials?

18 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 28 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 28 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.

Which Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials tasks can AI already do?

The tasks with the highest exposure are: Examine and measure finished articles to verify conformance to standards, using measuring devices such as tape measures and micrometers. It is the only task that reach 60 or more.

What AI model tier does this role need?

A standard-tier model or lower covers 10% of the role's importance-weighted task work, and 90% is hands-on work that no model tier covers. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.

How many people work as Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials, and what do they earn?

26,120 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $35,060 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of -13.5% from 2024 to 2034.

How to cite

Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.

JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/pressers-textile-garment-and-related-materials

Have a team in this role?

Get your free 10-role sample. Send this role and up to nine others, with no employee data, and a founder sends a PDF in board-pack format within two business days.

Get your free 10-role sample Book a 15-minute call

A founder replies within one business day.