First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of production and operating workers, such as inspectors, precision workers, machine setters and operators, assemblers, fabricators, and plant and system operators. Excludes team or work leaders.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Time Management
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Personnel and Human Resources
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Administrative
- Mechanical
What the work involves
- Enforce safety and sanitation regulations.
- Direct and coordinate the activities of employees engaged in the production or processing of goods, such as inspectors, machine setters, or fabricators.
- Read and analyze charts, work orders, production schedules, and other records and reports to determine production requirements and to evaluate current production estimates and outputs.
- Confer with other supervisors to coordinate operations and activities within or between departments.
- Plan and establish work schedules, assignments, and production sequences to meet production goals.
- Inspect materials, products, or equipment to detect defects or malfunctions.
- Observe work and monitor gauges, dials, and other indicators to ensure that operators conform to production or processing standards.
- Confer with management or subordinates to resolve worker problems, complaints, or grievances.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (32.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (29.5%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (35.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 87% of occupations compared | 90% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 69% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 73% of occupations compared | 66% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 67% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 91% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 91% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 87% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 57% of occupations compared | 27% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0.88%
- Contact with others about half the time: 5.13%
- Contact with others most of the time: 3.77%
- Constant contact with others: 90.21%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 31.4%
- Fairly important: 13.87%
- Important: 11.74%
- Very important: 17.06%
- Extremely important: 25.93%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 13.15%
- Very important: 21.34%
- Extremely important: 65.51%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.71%
- Very little freedom: 6.75%
- Limited freedom: 2.83%
- Some freedom: 38.95%
- A lot of freedom: 50.75%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 0.71%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.62%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 15.44%
- Every day: 69.05%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 2.13%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 16.87%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.42%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 33.57%
- Every day: 29.01%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 29.05%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 7.14%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.64%
- Every day: 29.17%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 14.37%
- Fairly serious: 23.39%
- Serious: 25.17%
- Very serious: 10.21%
- Extremely serious: 26.86%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 51-1011.00 · SOC 51-1011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8