Glass Manufacturing Workers
Overview
Introduction
Glass manufacturing workers are employed in factories and plants that make glass and glass products from raw materials. These products include flat glass, such as window and plate glass; pressed glass items, such as glass dishes; blown glass items, such as light bulbs and many kinds of bottles; and various special products, such as glass blocks used in building construction, safety glass windshields, and glass for optical instruments. There are approximately 85,250 glass manufacturing workers in the United States.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Earnings of glass manufacturing workers depend on the type of industry they work in, their specific duties, union membership, the shift they work, and other factors.
Mean annual earnings for extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders-synthetic and glass fibers were $35,500 in May 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Salaries ranged from less than $24,240 to...
Work Environment
Glass factories usually operate around the clock, 24 hours a day every day of the year, because the furnaces have to be kept going all the time. For this reason, many workers work at night, on weekends, and on holidays. Although the standard workweek is about 40 hours, many workers put in overtime hours on a regular basis.
Factory conditions in glass plants have greatly improved over the...
Outlook
Glass is so common in our lives that as long as we continue to use it in its myriad forms, workers in glass manufacturing will be needed—although automation has eliminated the need for many workers in recent years. It is difficult to predict with any accuracy specific future job growth; however, in most areas employment is projected to experience little to no change or to decline through 2028. ...