Production · Holland code RC

Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders

Operate or tend machines to bleach, shrink, wash, dye, or finish textiles or synthetic or glass fibers.

Also called: Dye Machine Operator, Dye Operator, Dyer, Machine Operator (Machine Op), Beck Operator, Dye House Worker, Dye Line Operator, Dye Tub Operator.

O*NET 51-6061.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $38,180; Middle half earn $35,680 to $45,280. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 56% 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.

Weigh ingredients, such as dye, to be mixed together for use in textile processing.
Start and control machines and equipment to wash, bleach, dye, or otherwise process and finish fabric, yarn, thread, or other textile goods.
Observe display screens, control panels, equipment, and cloth entering or exiting processes to determine if equipment is operating correctly.
Notify supervisors or mechanics of equipment malfunctions.
Monitor factors such as temperatures and dye flow rates to ensure that they are within specified ranges.
Sew ends of cloth together, by hand or using machines, to form endless lengths of cloth to facilitate processing.
Add dyes, water, detergents, or chemicals to tanks to dilute or strengthen solutions, according to established formulas and solution test results.
Ravel seams that connect cloth ends when processing is completed.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.0 / 5
Monitoring3.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.9 / 5
Speaking2.9 / 5
Critical Thinking2.9 / 5
Writing2.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

Production and Processing3.4 / 5
Public Safety and Security2.6 / 5
Education and Training2.5 / 5
Administration and Management2.5 / 5
Customer and Personal Service2.5 / 5
Mathematics2.4 / 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.

Realistic96
Investigative18
Artistic5
Social5
Enterprising3
Conventional53

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)

textile chemist · DE Textilchemiker/Textilchemikerin · FR ingénieur en chimie textile/ingénieure en chimie textile
textile colourist · DE Textilkolorist/Textilkoloristin · FR coloriste textile
colour sampling technician · DE Farbentechniker/Farbentechnikerin · FR technicien coloriste/technicienne coloriste
finishing textile technician · DE Textilveredelungstechniker/Textilveredelungstechnikerin · FR agent de finition textile/agente de finition textile
textile dyeing technician · DE Färbereitechniker/Färbereitechnikerin · FR conducteur de machines de teinture en industrie textile/conductrice de machines de teinture en industrie textile
textile dyer · DE Textilfärber/Textilfärberin · FR teinturier en industrie textile/teinturière en industrie textile

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Clothing, fashion and accessories designers (3422)18,300 employed
Chemical scientists (2111)25,100 employed
Design occupations n.e.c. (3429)39,100 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 -0.86. 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 (51-6061).

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