Also called: Swiss Machinist, Screw Machine Operator
Runs special high-precision lathes that make tiny parts like bone screws, watch pieces and electronic pins.
You set up a Swiss lathe with a dozen tools working at once on a bar of titanium thinner than a pencil. Parts the size of a grain of rice drop into a basket every few seconds. You check them under a magnifier, because a screw for someone's spine has to be perfect.
Estimate; specialists often earn more than general machinists.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Apprenticeship, about 2 years after high school. Machining training plus specialized on-the-job training.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Apprenticeship, Trade school. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Machine Tool Technology (trade school).
Growing about average. Steady demand from medical and electronics.
Medium risk for 10 years. Swiss lathes run mostly unattended; setters and troubleshooters remain needed, but fewer per machine.
Classes: Machining CTE class, Trigonometry, Blueprint reading.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-4041.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.