Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
Operate one or more of a variety of office machines, such as photocopying, photographic, and duplicating machines, or other office machines.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Reading Comprehension
- Operations Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Administrative
- Communications and Media
- Mechanical
What the work involves
- Read job orders to determine the type of work to be done, the quantities to be produced, and the materials needed.
- Operate office machines such as high speed business photocopiers, readers, scanners, addressing machines, stencil-cutting machines, microfilm readers or printers, folding and inserting machines, bursters, and binder machines.
- Place original copies in feed trays, feed originals into feed rolls, or position originals on tables beneath camera lenses.
- Compute prices for services and receive payment, or provide supervisors with billing information.
- Sort, assemble, and proof completed work.
- Set up and adjust machines, regulating factors such as speed, ink flow, focus, and number of copies.
- Monitor machine operation, and make adjustments as necessary to ensure proper operation.
- Load machines with materials such as blank paper or film.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Realistic, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (67.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (36.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (48.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Office Machine Operators, Except Computer 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 | Low | Lower on contact with others than 72% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 60% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 82% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 85% of occupations compared | 56% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 86% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 86% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 56% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 93% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very low
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: 14.82%
- Contact with others about half the time: 15.67%
- Contact with others most of the time: 18.15%
- Constant contact with others: 51.36%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 19.69%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 10.63%
- Very important: 33.27%
- Extremely important: 36.41%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 17.42%
- Fairly important: 3.2%
- Important: 3.39%
- Very important: 36.38%
- Extremely important: 39.61%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 14.95%
- Limited freedom: 19.13%
- Some freedom: 55.93%
- A lot of freedom: 9.99%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.89%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.27%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.06%
- Every day: 64.78%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 34.37%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 21.26%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 29.42%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.95%
- Every day: 0%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 18.21%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 36.01%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 7.71%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 0%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 42.52%
- Fairly serious: 30.35%
- Serious: 17.14%
- Very serious: 9.99%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
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O*NET-SOC 43-9071.00 · SOC 43-9071 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8