How To Become A Machine Shop Foreman: What It Is and Career Path

What is a machine shop foreman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a machine shop foreman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.67 an hour? That's $38,836 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 3,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMachine Shop ForemanUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,836

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 5.05%

Black or African American 12.84%

Hispanic or Latino 15.36%

Unknown 4.15%

White 61.90%

Gender

female 1.81%

male 98.19%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a machine shop foreman

Explore machine shop foreman education requirements

Most common machine shop foreman degrees

Bachelor's

31.5 %

High School Diploma

27.9 %

Associate

23.4 %

Start to develop specific machine shop foreman skills

Skills	Percentages
CNC	38.33%
Machine Operators	15.66%
Machine Tools	7.67%
G Code	4.79%
Manual Lathes	3.19%

Complete relevant machine shop foreman training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New machine shop foremen learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a machine shop foreman based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real machine shop foreman resumes.

Research machine shop foreman duties and responsibilities

Implement changes to the departments safety program, and lead tours and employee audits for lock-out and PPE.
Assure ISO compliance through performing internal audits.
Help establish and implement ISO instructions, ensure shop safety and enforce all company policies.
Stock marking and warehousing of finish products using pallet trucks, fork lift and hoists.

Prepare your machine shop foreman resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your machine shop foreman resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a machine shop foreman resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable machine shop foreman resume templates

Build a professional machine shop foreman resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your machine shop foreman resume.