Will AI replace pressers, textile, garment, and related materials?

Not replace, but it is changing the job. About 40m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by robots. The other 7h 20m (92%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 15.7% fewer of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

None of this job's tasks show regular AI use yet. That can mean the work is hands-on or in person, or simply that it rarely comes up in AI usage data.

For some tasks, yes. Robots have done 2 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 40m of a typical shift. 19 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here. For 6 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

• Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed. (26m a shift; e.g. Flat-bed (carousel/magazine) fusing presses, in use)
• Activate and adjust machine controls to regulate temperature and pressure of rollers, ironing shoes, or plates, according to specifications. (13m a shift; e.g. Kannegiesser SmartLaundry / central program control (X6, SmartConnect ironer lines), in use)

7h 20m of a typical shift, or 92%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles. (2h 5m a shift)
• Finish pants, jackets, shirts, skirts and other dry-cleaned and laundered articles, using hand irons. (46m a shift)
• Position materials such as cloth garments, felt, or straw on tables, dies, or feeding mechanisms of pressing machines, or on ironing boards or work tables. (46m a shift)
• Hang, fold, package, and tag finished articles for delivery to customers. (39m a shift)
• Remove finished pieces from pressing machines and hang or stack them for cooling, or forward them for additional processing. (39m a shift)

Part of the answer is the setting, not just the tasks. Work that is in person, hands on or high stakes is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 85% spend more than half the day on their feet
• 77% use their hands on tools, objects or controls more than half the time

On Indeed, job postings in the Production & Manufacturing sector are at 124% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 12.6% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 2,200 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $35,060 a year ($16.85 an hour), 31% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $27,180 and $43,050 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects a decline of 15.7% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 22,000 jobs in 2035. Even so, it expects about 2,200 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 26,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.02% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 500th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 22,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is less than a high school diploma: about 59% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 1 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: little or no preparation. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Operation and Control
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 20m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word

These use similar skills, with less of a typical shift touched by AI or robots. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Hand Sewers (0m touched, $36k median pay)
• Quarry Rock Splitters (0m touched, $49k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 2 with robots in real deployments, 26 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.