Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders
Operate or tend a variety of machines to join, decorate, reinforce, or finish shoes and shoe parts.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Equipment Maintenance
- Quality Control Analysis
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Customer and Personal Service
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Public Safety and Security
- Engineering and Technology
- Administrative
What the work involves
- Study work orders or shoe part tags to obtain information about workloads, specifications, and the types of materials to be used.
- Remove and examine shoes, shoe parts, and designs to verify conformance to specifications such as proper embedding of stitches in channels.
- Perform routine equipment maintenance such as cleaning and lubricating machines or replacing broken needles.
- Cut excess thread or material from shoe parts, using scissors or knives.
- Align parts to be stitched, following seams, edges, or markings, before positioning them under needles.
- Switch on machines, lower pressure feet or rollers to secure parts, and start machine stitching, using hand, foot, or knee controls.
- Test machinery to ensure proper functioning before beginning production.
- Operate or tend machines to join, decorate, reinforce, or finish shoes and shoe parts.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (46.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (50.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (42.5%)
- 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 Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders 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 63% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 97% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 77% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 87% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 52% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 65% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 73% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 97% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- 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: 3.73%
- Contact with others about half the time: 2.99%
- Contact with others most of the time: 59.38%
- Constant contact with others: 33.9%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 61.55%
- Fairly important: 14.84%
- Important: 17.56%
- Very important: 5.66%
- Extremely important: 0.38%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 19.67%
- Very important: 9.04%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very little freedom: 4.67%
- Limited freedom: 22.27%
- Some freedom: 33.65%
- A lot of freedom: 25.41%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 25.43%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 1.25%
- Every day: 53.7%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 27.63%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 35.37%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.94%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14%
- Every day: 19.06%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 23.13%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.38%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 54.45%
- Fairly serious: 23.79%
- Serious: 19.13%
- Very serious: 0.38%
- Extremely serious: 2.24%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 51-6042.00 · SOC 51-6042 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8