Metal and machinery
Metal polisher and tool sharpener
Key facts
This job is declining in the United States. AI exposure: very low according to the ILO, low according to the BLS. Employment change in the United States by 2035: −11.7% (BLS). Future-proof jobs use similar skills: see "What next?".
The job
Metal polishers, wheel grinders and tool sharpeners (ISCO 7224). Metal polishers, wheel grinders and tool sharpeners polish and grind metal surfaces and sharpen tools.
Page built from official classifications (ILO, ESCO); figures cover all the jobs grouped here.
32 job titles linked to this page
Titles from the European ESCO classification. They are also used for search.
- air bag buffer
- air bag finisher
- automatic metal buffer
- automatic metal finisher
- bed buffer
- bed finisher
- buffer
- buffer operator
- circle buffer
- circle finisher
- CNC operator of tool and cutter grinder
- eco pickled surface operator
- grinder
- hand buffer
- hand finisher
- lead tool grinder
- machine buffer
- machine finisher
- mechanical buffer
- mechanical finisher
- metal buffer
- metal polisher
- operator of tool and cutter grinder
- pickling operator
- precision tool grinder
- smooth clean surface operator
- tool cutter and grinder
- tool grinder
- tool sharpener
- toolgrinder
- tube buffer
- tube finisher
What next?
Future-proof jobs that draw on skills close to this one. They are leads to explore, not an assessment of your profile.
- ChangingIndustrial maintenance technician
- ChangingQuality inspector
- ChangingAircraft mechanic
Indicative matches: at launch they will come from the skills listed in official occupational directories.
Gauges
No US indicator measures hiring difficulty job by job: this gauge stays empty. How countries are compared
Sources
- AI exposure categories and employment projections, 2025-2035 (XLSX file)Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States · August 2026 · official statistics
- Generative AI and Jobs: a refined global index of occupational exposureInternational Labour Organization and NASK · May 2025 · large survey
- ESCO, European classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations (job titles and O*NET crosswalk)European Commission · version 1.2 · official statistics
- Jobs in 2030: projections by occupational family (summary table)Dares and France Stratégie · March 2022 · official statistics
- Labour needs survey (BMO) 2026France Travail · 2026 · large survey
- EURES report on labour shortages and surpluses 2025, annexEuropean Labour Authority · June 2026 · official statistics
Checked on 27 October 2026.