All About Office Machine Operators

Occupation Description Operate one or more of a variety of office machines, such as photocopying, photographic, and duplicating machines, or other office machines.

A Day in the Life of an Office Machine Operator

• Clean machines, perform minor repairs, and report major repair needs.
• Sort, assemble, and proof completed work.
• Move heat units and clamping frames over screen beds to form Braille impressions on pages, raising frames to release individual copies.
• Load machines with materials such as blank paper or film.
• Operate office machines such as high speed business photocopiers, readers, scanners, addressing machines, stencil-cutting machines, microfilm readers or printers, folding and inserting machines, bursters, and binder machines.
• Place original copies in feed trays, feed originals into feed rolls, or position originals on tables beneath camera lenses.

Office Machine Operator Required Skills

Office Machine Operators state the following job skills are important in their day-to-day work.

Operation and Control: Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Operation Monitoring: Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Related Job Titles for this Occupation:

• Copy Center Operator
• Photocopy Operator
• Reprographics Associate
• Microfiche Camera Operator
• Offset Duplicating Machine Operator

Job Demand for Office Machine Operators

In the United States, there were 59,900 jobs for Office Machine Operator in 2016. There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Office Machine Operator. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 5,100 job openings in this field each year.

The states with the most job growth for Office Machine Operator are Nevada, Maryland, and Washington. Watch out if you plan on working in Vermont, New Mexico, or Maine. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Office Machine Operator Salary

The typical yearly salary for Office Machine Operators is somewhere between $22,350 and $49,920.

Office Machine Operators who work in District of Columbia, Massachusetts, or Illinois, make the highest salaries.

Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Office Machine Operators in different U.S. states.

State	Annual Mean Salary
Alabama	$31,720
Arizona	$34,870
Arkansas	$26,980
California	$38,170
Colorado	$36,910
Connecticut	$39,060
Delaware	$31,890
District of Columbia	$48,840
Florida	$31,930
Georgia	$34,060
Hawaii	$34,330
Idaho	$28,580
Illinois	$41,830
Indiana	$33,930
Iowa	$34,770
Kansas	$31,720
Kentucky	$29,890
Louisiana	$32,850
Maine	$33,190
Maryland	$38,110
Massachusetts	$42,360
Michigan	$34,570
Minnesota	$36,380
Mississippi	$31,190
Missouri	$35,480
Montana	$31,860
Nebraska	$35,280
Nevada	$31,950
New Hampshire	$30,940
New Jersey	$32,840
New Mexico	$35,270
New York	$36,180
North Carolina	$31,370
North Dakota	$32,320
Ohio	$31,830
Oklahoma	$29,400
Oregon	$37,860
Pennsylvania	$33,200
Rhode Island	$32,690
South Carolina	$32,210
South Dakota	$27,460
Tennessee	$30,490
Texas	$31,890
Utah	$30,250
Vermont	$31,790
Virginia	$35,060
Washington	$34,770
West Virginia	$30,370
Wisconsin	$31,010
Wyoming	$28,150

What Tools & Technology do Office Machine Operators Use?

Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Office Machine Operators:

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft Access
• Data entry software
• Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat
• Microsoft Publisher

Becoming an Office Machine Operator

Individuals working as an Office Machine Operator have obtained the following education levels:

How Long Does it Take to Become an Office Machine Operator?

Where do Office Machine Operators Work?

Below are examples of industries where Office Machine Operators work:

You May Also Be Interested In…

Are you already one of the many Office Machine Operator in the United States? If you’re thinking about changing careers, these fields are worth exploring:

• First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers

References:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• College Factual
• O*NET Online

Image Credit: via

More about our data sources and methodologies.