Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders

High Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (3)

Lower estimated automation risk

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Why it fits

Plausible for operators who troubleshoot refrigeration or freezing equipment and add repair training.

Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
38% automation risk | Low Risk
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Why it fits

Uses process monitoring, pumps, valves, sampling, logs, and equipment adjustment in regulated plant work.

Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
43% automation risk | Moderate Risk
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Why it fits

Fits operators with refrigeration systems, gauges, pumps, and plant rounds who add boiler or utilities training.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.8/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

67% (High Risk)

High Risk (61-80%): This occupation shows a significant risk of end-to-end replacement by automation. Many core parts of the role may be structured, repeatable, software-driven, or physically predictable enough for AI, machines, or robotic systems to take over. If you work in this area, it may be worth exploring safer related careers or moving towards more human-centred responsibilities.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
Jobs that also use this strength

Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 13 votes

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders was $40,160 ($19 per hour).

The median annual wage for Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders was 18.9% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders' job openings is expected to rise 7.2% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 6,590 people employed as 'Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 23 thousand people are employed as 'Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders'.

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Job description

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.

O*NET-SOC code: 51-9193.00