What Do Shoe Machine Operator Do?
Position Description Operate or tend a variety of machines to join, decorate, reinforce, or finish shoes and shoe parts.
Life As a Shoe Machine Operator
- Staple sides of shoes, pressing a foot treadle to position and hold each shoe under the feeder of the machine.
- Turn knobs to adjust stitch length and thread tension.
- Load hot-melt plastic rod glue through reactivator axles, using wrenches, and switch on reactivators, setting temperature and timers to heat glue to specifications.
- Study work orders or shoe part tags to obtain information about workloads, specifications, and the types of materials to be used.
- Position dies on material in a manner that will obtain the maximum number of parts from each portion of material.
- Switch on machines, lower pressure feet or rollers to secure parts, and start machine stitching, using hand, foot, or knee controls.
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What Every Shoe Machine Operator Should Know
When polled, Shoe Machine Operators say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:
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.
Quality Control Analysis: Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Operation and Control: Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Other Shoe Machine Operator Job Titles
- Upper Tier
- Vamp Liner
- Sock Liner
- Kohinoor Operator
- Rougher Machine Operator
Are There Job Opportunities for Shoe Machine Operators?
In the United States, there were 3,600 jobs for Shoe Machine Operator in 2016. There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Shoe Machine Operator. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 400 job openings in this field each year.

The states with the most job growth for Shoe Machine Operator are Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. Watch out if you plan on working in Washington, Oregon, or Illinois. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Salary for a Shoe Machine Operator
Shoe Machine Operators make between $19,020 and $40,410 a year.

Shoe Machine Operators who work in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, or Maine, make the highest salaries.
How much do Shoe Machine Operators make in different U.S. states?
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
California | $30,580 |
Florida | $35,140 |
Maine | $32,100 |
Massachusetts | $43,330 |
New York | $26,240 |
Pennsylvania | $25,050 |
Texas | $30,470 |
Washington | $32,060 |
Wisconsin | $32,300 |
What Tools & Technology do Shoe Machine Operators Use?
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Shoe Machine Operators:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Data entry software
- Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat
- Inventory tracking software
- Microsoft operating system
- Production control software
How do I Become a Shoe Machine Operator?
Education needed to be a Shoe Machine Operator:

How many years of work experience do I need?

Where Shoe Machine Operators Work

The table below shows the approximate number of Shoe Machine Operators employed by various industries.

You May Also Be Interested In…
Those interested in being a Shoe Machine Operator may also be interested in:
Are you already one of the many Shoe Machine Operator in the United States? If you’re thinking about changing careers, these fields are worth exploring:
References:
Image Credit: Steven M O’Kelley via Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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