Finishing area operator vs production employee

The differences between finishing area operators and production employees can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a finishing area operator has an average salary of $33,012, which is higher than the $32,872 average annual salary of a production employee.

The top three skills for a finishing area operator include safety procedures, operational procedures and rail cars. The most important skills for a production employee are production floor, quality standards, and safety standards.

Finishing area operator vs production employee overview

	Finishing Area Operator	Production Employee
Yearly salary	$33,012	$32,872
Hourly rate	$15.87	$15.80
Growth rate	7%	-
Number of jobs	41,820	75,730
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	High School Diploma, 34%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	-	-

Finishing area operator vs production employee salary

Finishing area operators and production employees have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Finishing Area Operator	Production Employee
Average salary	$33,012	$32,872
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $45,000	Between $25,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	-	Cleveland, OH
Highest paying state	-	Minnesota
Best paying company	-	Steel Dynamics
Best paying industry	-	Automotive

Differences between finishing area operator and production employee education

There are a few differences between a finishing area operator and a production employee in terms of educational background:

	Finishing Area Operator	Production Employee
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	High School Diploma, 34%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Finishing area operator vs production employee demographics

Here are the differences between finishing area operators' and production employees' demographics:

	Finishing Area Operator	Production Employee
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5%	Male, 69.6% Female, 30.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.3% Asian, 6.9% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 7.9% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between finishing area operator and production employee duties and responsibilities

Finishing area operator example responsibilities.

Experience following procedures and managing GMP documentation.
Operate heavy machinery such as bobcat equipment and also operate and pave asphalt perform demolition work.
Load pre-cut graphite stamp dyes into EDM head.

Production employee example responsibilities.

Accomplish collating training for revisions and charts.
Handle set up and operation of CNC mills and lathes for production.
Machine (CNC) axle shafts from a raw forging state to a finish product ready for final assembly.
Execute production activities as directed by supervisor, including performing GMP cell culture of biologic products using closed-system device.
Coordinate and participate in Kaizen cost improvement activities.

Finishing area operator vs production employee skills

Common finishing area operator skills

Safety Procedures, 64%
Operational Procedures, 25%
Rail Cars, 12%

Common production employee skills

Production Floor, 25%
Quality Standards, 16%
Safety Standards, 13%
Work Ethic, 8%
Production Process, 6%
HACCP, 4%

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Production and Manufacturing Industry
Finishing Area Operator
Finishing Area Operator vs Production Employee

Updated January 8, 2025

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