---
title: "Adhesive Bonding Machine Operator and Tender"
description: "Operate or tend bonding machines that use adhesives to join items for further processing or to form a completed product. Processes include joining veneer…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Adhesive Bonding Machine Operator and Tender

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-9191 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-9191.00

Operate or tend bonding machines that use adhesives to join items for further processing or to form a completed product. Processes include joining veneer sheets into plywood; gluing paper; or joining rubber and rubberized fabric parts, plastic, simulated leather, or other materials.

Also advertised as: Coater Operator; Glue Line Operator; Glue Reel Operator; Gluer Machine Operator; Gluing Pressman; Machine Operator; Perfect Bind Machine Operator; Sealer Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $46,460 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.34/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $31,460 to $60,810, with the middle half between $37,220 and $53,610
- **Total US employment:** 11,500
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +1.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 51/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 11,500 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $31,460 |
| 25th | $37,220 |
| 50th (median) | $46,460 |
| 75th | $53,610 |
| 90th | $60,810 |
| Mean (average) | $46,850 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UT | $65,500 | $66,253 | 100 |
| OK | $59,980 | $68,281 | 390 |
| NJ | $59,170 | $54,382 | Not published by BLS |
| ID | $57,670 | $60,391 | 140 |
| WA | $56,580 | $52,872 | 320 |
| MN | $56,540 | $57,331 | 120 |
| PA | $53,320 | $54,647 | 500 |
| KY | $52,140 | $57,831 | 110 |
| WI | $50,290 | $53,446 | 350 |
| OR | $50,050 | $48,423 | 900 |
| CO | $49,920 | $48,442 | 130 |
| AR | $49,770 | $57,248 | 310 |
| OH | $49,390 | $53,237 | 940 |
| CT | $49,280 | $47,563 | 50 |
| IA | $49,220 | $56,083 | 170 |

21 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 36 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 12,100 in the 2025–2035 base year to 12,200 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 200 jobs, or +1.3%. Slower than average: 1.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 72.6% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 16.7% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 10.2% |
| Some College Courses | 0.4% |

## What the work involves

- Start machines, and turn valves or move controls to feed, admit, apply, or transfer materials and adhesives, and to adjust temperature, pressure, and time settings.
- Monitor machine operations to detect malfunctions and report or resolve problems.
- Observe gauges, meters, and control panels to obtain information about equipment temperatures and pressures, or the speed of feeders or conveyors.
- Transport materials, supplies, and finished products between storage and work areas, using forklifts.
- Read work orders and communicate with coworkers to determine machine and equipment settings and adjustments and supply and product specifications.
- Remove jammed materials from machines and readjust components as necessary to resume normal operations.
- Maintain production records such as quantities, dimensions, and thicknesses of materials processed.
- Examine and measure completed materials or products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring devices such as tape measures, gauges, or calipers.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operation and Control — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Repairing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Static Strength — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.49 |
| C — Conventional | 4.39 |
| I — Investigative | 2.06 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.11 |
| A — Artistic | 1.08 |
| S — Social | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 90.2 |
| ISTP | 76.6 |
| ISFJ | 75.6 |
| ESTJ | 73.7 |
| INTJ | 66.2 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Paper Goods Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paper-goods-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $50,270
- [Cutting and Slicing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-and-slicing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $46,570
- [Machine Feeder and Offbearer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/machine-feeder-and-offbearer) — median $41,220
- [Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-forming-pressing-and-compacting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $45,760
- [Rolling Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rolling-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $50,140
- [Packaging and Filling Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/packaging-and-filling-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $43,220
- [Extruding and Forming Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Synthetic and Glass Fiber](https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-and-forming-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-synthetic-and-glass-fiber) — median $46,350
- [Woodworking Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Except Sawing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/woodworking-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $43,380
- [Textile Cutting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/textile-cutting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $38,760
- [Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-and-polishing-worker-hand) — median $42,660

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender