Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
Press or shape articles by hand or machine.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Operations Monitoring
- Time Management
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles.
- Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed.
- Remove finished pieces from pressing machines and hang or stack them for cooling, or forward them for additional processing.
- Hang, fold, package, and tag finished articles for delivery to customers.
- 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.
- Select appropriate pressing machines, based on garment properties such as heat tolerance.
- Push and pull irons over surfaces of articles to smooth or shape them.
- Finish pleated garments, determining sizes of pleats from evidence of old pleats or from work orders, using machine presses or hand irons.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (59.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (31.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (23.6%)
- 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 Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials 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 low | Lower on contact with others than 96% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 80% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 91% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 99% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 57% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 93% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 57% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 81% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- 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: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Occasional contact with others: 21.73%
- Contact with others about half the time: 8.05%
- Contact with others most of the time: 9.06%
- Constant contact with others: 44.54%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 33.15%
- Fairly important: 25.59%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 0.8%
- Extremely important: 24.67%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 19.19%
- Important: 3.46%
- Very important: 26.99%
- Extremely important: 34.81%
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 29.69%
- Very little freedom: 2.06%
- Limited freedom: 41.45%
- Some freedom: 23.17%
- A lot of freedom: 3.62%
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 11.29%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.6%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 1.11%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 58.41%
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 36.7%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 25.83%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 35.57%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0%
- Every day: 1.9%
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 28.26%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.57%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 33.23%
- Every day: 3.32%
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 46.18%
- Fairly serious: 13.21%
- Serious: 19.02%
- Very serious: 6.2%
- Extremely serious: 15.39%
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2017
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O*NET-SOC 51-6021.00 · SOC 51-6021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8