Production · Holland code RC

Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders

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.

Also called: Freezer Operator, Freezer Person, Refrigeration Operator, Refrigeration Technician, Certified Refrigeration Operator, Compressor Operator, Engine Room Operator, Ice Cream Maker.

O*NET 51-9193.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $41,330; Middle half earn $36,380 to $49,550. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Less than a High School Diploma; 51% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Measure or weigh specified amounts of ingredients or materials, and load them into tanks, vats, hoppers, or other equipment.
Adjust machine or freezer speed and air intake to obtain desired consistency and amount of product.
Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.
Weigh packages and adjust freezer air valves or switches on filler heads to obtain specified amounts of product in each container.
Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.6 / 5
Monitoring3.5 / 5
Speaking3.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Active Listening3.0 / 5
Active Learning3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Production and Processing3.9 / 5
Mechanical3.4 / 5
English Language3.4 / 5
Food Production3.3 / 5
Administration and Management3.3 / 5
Mathematics3.1 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic100
Investigative22
Artistic0
Social7
Enterprising2
Conventional55

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

chilling operator · DE Tiefkühlkosthersteller/Tiefkühlkostherstellerin · FR opérateur congélation en industrie agroalimentaire/opératrice congélation en industrie agroalimentaire

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Food, drink and tobacco process operatives (8111)129,900 employed
Butchers (5431)21,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.96. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-9193).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test