Career
Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders
Run cooling and freezing equipment.
$41,330
Median pay
+5.9%
Job growth, 2025–35
800
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.
- Monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product consistency, temperature, air pressure, and machine speed.
- Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures.
- Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.
- Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $41,330 a year and 800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders$43,530 · +3.4%
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$51,610 · -5.7%
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders$48,040 · +2.6%
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$48,750 · -9.5%
- Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders$44,810 · +0.4%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.