Manufacturing Engineers

Design, integrate, or improve manufacturing systems or related processes. May work with commercial or industrial designers to refine product designs to increase producibility and decrease costs.

Most important skills

Reading Comprehension
Mathematics
Complex Problem Solving
Active Listening
Speaking
Monitoring
Operations Monitoring
Judgment and Decision Making

Key knowledge

Production and Processing
Engineering and Technology
Mechanical
Design
Mathematics
Computers and Electronics
English Language
Physics

What the work involves

Apply continuous improvement methods, such as lean manufacturing, to enhance manufacturing quality, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.
Design layout of equipment or workspaces to achieve maximum efficiency.
Communicate manufacturing capabilities, production schedules, or other information to facilitate production processes.
Design, install, or troubleshoot manufacturing equipment.
Estimate costs, production times, or staffing requirements for new designs.
Evaluate manufactured products according to specifications and quality standards.
Investigate or resolve operational problems, such as material use variances or bottlenecks.
Prepare documentation for new manufacturing processes or engineering procedures.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Investigative, Conventional.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (76% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (30.8%)
On-the-job training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (26.9%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Manufacturing Engineers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Projection education uses SOC 17-2112 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.

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.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Low	Lower on contact with others than 63% of occupations compared	46% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	Very low	Lower on dealing with the public than 85% of occupations compared	31% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly important”
Teamwork	Moderate	Lower on teamwork than 51% of occupations compared	50% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Low	Lower on freedom to make decisions than 63% of occupations compared	42% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Low	Lower on time pressure than 69% of occupations compared	54% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Conflict situations	High	Higher on conflict situations than 66% of occupations compared	35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	High	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 61% of occupations compared	35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Consequence of error	Moderate	Higher on consequence of error than 57% of occupations compared	35% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: low
Conflict situations: high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: 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