US dataswitch to UK
Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders
recording temperatures, weighing packages and adjusting freezer air valves or switches on filler heads to obtain specified amounts of product in each container and correcting machinery malfunctions by performing actions. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: starting machinery, such as pumps, feeders or conveyors and turn valves to heat, admit or transferring products, refrigerants or mixes is work software can't reach.
What shifts is recording temperatures, amounts of materials processed or testing results on report forms. This page scores what today's tools actually do, not headlines.
Your week, as this page understands it
Operate or tend equipment such as cooling and freezing units, refrigerators, batch freezers, and freezing tunnels, to cool or freeze products, food, blood plasma, and chemicals. The job title says “cooling”, “freezing equipment operators” or “tenders”: officially one job, several names. The real job is the part underneath: starting machinery, such as pumps, feeders or conveyors and turn valves to heat, admit or transferring products, refrigerants or mixes. That is the thing someone has to be right about.
The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders is not one task. It is 18 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is starting machinery, such as pumps, feeders or conveyors and turn valves to heat, admit or transferring products, refrigerants or mixes, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 9%
- changing shape
- 0%
- staying human
- 91%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 9 out of 100 (7–13 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 18 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.
How we know this
What is measured: Every published task statement for cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.
How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.
Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.
Your job, task by task
These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
Shifting to AI
1 taskTasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.
Recording temperatures, amounts of materials processed or testing results on report forms
This is reading one thing and writing another: temperatures, amounts of materials processed or testing results in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 69 out of 100 (65–73 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Writing readings and results onto report forms is routine record-keeping that software captures automatically.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Changing shape
0 tasksTasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.
Nothing in this job’s scored task list landed in this group. That is the measurement, not an editorial choice, and it is worth knowing either way.
Staying human
17 tasksTasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.
Starting machinery, such as pumps, feeders or conveyors and turn valves to heat, admit or transferring products, refrigerants or mixes
This work happens in the physical world: machinery, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Starting pumps and conveyors and opening valves is done at the equipment.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Monitoring pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers or products and adjusting controls to maintain specified conditions
This work happens in the physical world: pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “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.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 14 out of 100 (7–21 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Software can flag when a reading drifts, but keeping the process right means being at the machine turning the controls.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Assembling equipment and attaching pipes, fittings or valves, using hand tools
This work happens in the physical world: equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Assemble equipment, and attach pipes, fittings, or valves, using hand tools.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Assembling equipment and fitting pipes and valves is hands-on work with tools.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Correcting machinery malfunctions by performing actions
This work happens in the physical world: machinery malfunctions, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Clearing jams and fixing machine faults means physically getting to the machine.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Reading dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures
This work happens in the physical world: dials, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 14 out of 100 (7–21 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Reading the panel is easy to automate, but turning the valves to hit the mix is done by hand.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Adjusting machine or freezer speed and air intake to obtain desired consistency and amount of product
This work happens in the physical world: machine, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Adjust machine or freezer speed and air intake to obtain desired consistency and amount of product.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Adjusting freezer speed and air intake is done at the machine's controls.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Measuring or weighing specified amounts of ingredients or materials
This work happens in the physical world: specified amounts of ingredients, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Measure or weigh specified amounts of ingredients or materials, and load them into tanks, vats, hoppers, or other equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Weighing out ingredients and loading them into tanks is physical handling.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Inspecting and flushing lines with solutions or steam
This work happens in the physical world: lines, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Inspect and flush lines with solutions or steam, and spray equipment with sterilizing solutions.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Flushing lines and spraying equipment with sterilizer is physical cleaning work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Starting agitators to blend contents
This work happens in the physical world: agitators, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Start agitators to blend contents, or start beater, scraper, and expeller blades to mix contents with air and prevent sticking.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Starting agitators and blades is done at the machine.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Show the other 8 tasks
Sampling and testing product characteristics
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: product characteristics, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Sample and test product characteristics such as specific gravity, acidity, and sugar content, using hydrometers, pH meters, or refractometers.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: The test methods are well documented, but taking samples and using the instruments happens at the line.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Scraping dislodge or break excess frost, ice or frozen product from equipment to prevent accumulation
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: dislodge, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Scrape, dislodge, or break excess frost, ice, or frozen product from equipment to prevent accumulation, using hands and hand tools.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Chipping frost and frozen product off equipment is physical work with hand tools.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Weighing packages and adjusting freezer air valves or switches on filler heads to obtain specified amounts of product in each container
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: packages, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Weigh packages and adjust freezer air valves or switches on filler heads to obtain specified amounts of product in each container.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Weighing packages and adjusting filler heads is hands-on line work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Stirring material with spoons or paddles to mix ingredients or allow even cooling and prevent coagulation
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: material, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · SupplementalSource: “Stir material with spoons or paddles to mix ingredients or allow even cooling and prevent coagulation.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Stirring material with a paddle is purely physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Loading and positioning wrapping paper
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: paper, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Load and position wrapping paper, sticks, bags, or cartons into dispensing machines.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Loading wrapping paper, bags and cartons into machines is physical handling.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Inserting forming fixtures and starting machines that cut frozen products into measured portions or specified shapes
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: fixtures, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Insert forming fixtures, and start machines that cut frozen products into measured portions or specified shapes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Fitting forming tools and starting the cutting machine is hands-on work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Placing or positioning containers into equipment
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: containers, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Place or position containers into equipment, and remove containers after completion of cooling or freezing processes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Putting containers in and taking them out of equipment is physical handling.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Activating mechanical rakes to regulate flow of ice from storage bins to vats
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: mechanical rakes, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · SupplementalSource: “Activate mechanical rakes to regulate flow of ice from storage bins to vats.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Operating the mechanical rakes that move ice is done at the equipment.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
What this job pays, and how many people do it
- Median pay
- $41,330a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
- People doing this job
- 6,900in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.
Why this is shifting
The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: temperatures, amounts of materials processed or testing results in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: recording temperatures. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where machinery gets done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.
Your move
Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend
Start with what does not change: starting machinery, such as pumps, feeders or conveyors and turn valves to heat, admit or transferring products, refrigerants or mixes is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.
So, given all that: 9% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 0% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 91% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 18 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.
So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Recording temperatures, amounts of materials processed or testing results on report forms is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.
This week: one thing
Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to temperatures, amounts of materials processed or testing results, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.
- What you end up holding
- a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
- How long it takes
- ten minutes
If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters are in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.
Over the next 90 days
Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near starting machinery, such as pumps, feeders or conveyors and turn valves to heat, admit or transferring products, refrigerants or mixes. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.
Over the next 12 months
On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.
The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them
I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.
I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders: only about 10% of its durable work is work you already do. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 9/100 here, with only 9% of the task list in the top band, and “start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to…” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.
How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.
3 moves I checked and rejected
These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat…, and their equivalent is to turn valves or move controls to admit, drain, separate, filter, clarify, mix, or…. Across both published task lists that is about 10% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 10% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on.
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat…, and their equivalent is to turn valves or start pumps to add ingredients or drain products from equipment…. Across both published task lists that is about 9% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 9% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain…, and their equivalent is to monitor gauges, recording instruments, flowmeters, or products to ensure that specified conditions are…. Across both published task lists that is about 8% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 8% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
What I’d stop worrying about
A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.
The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 9% of its task weight, across 18 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like starting machinery, such as pumps, feeders or conveyors and turn valves to heat, admit or transferring products, refrigerants or mixes arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.
You are reading the United States figures
The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Food, drink and tobacco process operatives is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.
Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match
In UK official statistics this job is counted as Food, drink and tobacco process operatives. Pay and employment stay on this page’s own group; the task list and the scores do not cross over.
Your route through this
Where to go next, and what it costs
Free, and complete
The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
Free
No Space for this job, but one for what is happening to it
Nothing Collab365 runs is built for cooling / freezing equipment operators / tenders, and we are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
There is one that is not about a job title at all. The AI Authority is about being the person who directs these tools at work rather than the person they get compared to. That is worth saying here, because 9% of the work on this page is already inside what they can do.
7 days free, no card needed. Explore up to 2 Spaces before you choose a plan: you pick a plan later, not now.
The AI Authority is a general community about working with AI, not a course for cooling / freezing equipment operators / tenders. You do not need it to act on anything here: the moves above cost nothing and stand on their own. The data on this page is the same either way.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for cooling / freezing equipment operators / tenders launches. Nothing else.
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No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.
Questions people ask about this job
- Will AI replace Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 18 official task statements scored for Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders (United States, SOC 51-9193), 9% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 9 out of 100 (range 7–13, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
- Which tasks in “Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms” (69/100, high); “Monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product co…” (14/100, minimal); “Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures” (14/100, minimal). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
- Which tasks in “Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders” stay human?
- About 91% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Activate mechanical rakes to regulate flow of ice from storage bins to vats” (0/100, minimal); “Inspect and flush lines with solutions or steam, and spray equipment with sterilizing solutions” (0/100, minimal); “Place or position containers into equipment, and remove containers after completion of cooling or freezing processes” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
- What should someone working in “Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 9% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 91% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
- How is the AI exposure score for Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders calculated?
- Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 18 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.
Where these numbers come from
Worth knowing about these figures
- The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
- Task statements
- onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
- Task weights
- onet-db (im-rt)
- Scores
- Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
- Pay and employment
- bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))
Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.
The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.
The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.
Using these figures?
Cite this
Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.
Plain text
Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).
BibTeX
@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
title = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
author = {{Collab365}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
note = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.