CNC Swiss Machinist Jobs: Who's Hiring, What It Pays, What Shops Actually Want

Swiss postings sit open longer than any other machining job we list, because there are never enough people who can do the work.

If you can set up a Citizen or a Tsugami, hold tenths on a part the size of a pencil lead, and keep it running unattended, you're in a small group. Shops know it. That's why Swiss postings sit open for months while mill jobs fill in weeks.

There are 25 Swiss roles live on hireCNC right now. Here's who's hiring, what they're paying, and what they're actually asking for.

Last checked August 2026. We keep this page current — when a shop below fills the role, it comes off.

What Swiss pays right now

Real numbers from live postings, not averages from a survey:

Worth saying plainly: on our own board Swiss ranges come out about level with general CNC machinist work, not above it. The premium people talk about is real in some shops, but it is not showing up in what gets posted. Full breakdown here: what shops are actually posting for machinists.

• Cox Manufacturing — San Antonio, TX — $26.00–$50.00 an hour
• GenSwiss — Westfield, MA — $21.00–$40.00 an hour
• Viant Medical — Fort Wayne, IN — pay not posted, 15% differential on nights

Three things worth pulling out of that.

The top of the range is real money. $50 an hour for a Swiss lead in San Antonio is what a shop pays when it can't find anybody.

The bottom isn't an insult. GenSwiss starting at $21 is for somebody who can follow a setup sheet and run inspection. If you can program, nobody is offering you $21.

A lot of shops still won't post a number. We'll be straight about our opinion here: ads that name a number get more applications than ads that don't. Machinists have been burned enough that "competitive pay" reads as "less than you want."

If you're a machinist, ask the number in the first conversation. If you're a shop owner reading this, put the number in the ad.

Who's hiring Swiss right now

Medical and dental

• Viant Medical — CNC Swiss Machinist, Fort Wayne, IN. 3rd shift, 15% differential, 3.5 weeks PTO. Two-plus years Swiss or journeyman-level.
• KARL STORZ — CNC Setup Machinist, 2nd shift, Franklin, MA. Lathes, mills and Swiss.
• Faircloth Machine Shop — CNC Swiss Machinist, Winston-Salem, NC.

Precision job shops

• Cox Manufacturing — CNC Swiss and Swiss Lead Machinist, San Antonio, TX. Days, 7 to 4. Tornos and Tsugami, Citizen preferred. Relocation assistance for qualified candidates. US citizen or permanent resident — export-controlled work.
• GenSwiss — CNC Swiss Machinist, Westfield, MA. Citizen, Star, Tsugami, Tornos, Hanwha and Nexturn.
• Camco Precision Machining — CNC Swiss Setup Machinist, Union Grove, WI.
• Custom Tool & Machine — Swiss CNC Operator (Citizen), Roanoke, VA.
• Lusk Quality Machine Products — Swiss Setup Machinist / Operator (Citizen and Tsugami), Palmdale, CA.
• Camtool — Swiss Lathe Machinist, Muncie, IN.
• West Side Industries — CNC Machinist, Okuma and Tsugami Swiss setup, Statesville, NC.
• Olson Custom Designs — Swiss CNC Setup Technician, New Augusta, IN.
• SJ Mobilita — CNC Swiss Lathe Machinist, 1st shift, Star Swiss setup, Westborough, MA.

Programming and lead roles

• Quantum Precision — CNC Swiss Programmer / Setup Machinist (Citizen and Tsugami), West Chicago, IL.
• Rapido Talent — Swiss CNC Setup Programmer (Tsugami, Star, PartMaker), Delavan and Cudahy, WI.

Nights, weekends and premiums

• Lowell Inc — CNC Swiss Machinist, night or weekend shift, Tsugami and Fanuc, Minneapolis, MN. Sign-on bonus.
• Ichor Systems — CNC Swiss Machinist and Swiss Operator, weekend days, Osakis, MN.
• Advance Screw Products — Swiss Setup Machinist, days, Citizen and Mitsubishi, Saint Francis, MN.

The machine builder side

• Marubeni Citizen-Cincom — CNC Applications Engineer, Swiss CNC (Citizen-Cincom and Miyano). Fountain Valley, CA and Agawam, MA. This is the other career path — running applications for the builder instead of running parts for a shop.

Browse all 25 CNC Swiss machinist jobs →

Where the Swiss work actually is

Sort that list by state and a pattern shows up.

Minnesota and Massachusetts have the most openings. Wisconsin, Indiana and North Carolina are close behind. Texas has the highest posted rate on the board.

If you're willing to move, that matters more than anything else on this page. Swiss is concentrated. There are metros where three shops will interview you in a week, and metros with nothing inside two hours.

Five of the Swiss roles on the board right now include relocation assistance.

See Swiss jobs offering relocation assistance →

What shops are actually asking for

Pulled from the live postings, not from a generic job description.

Machines you'll see named. Citizen (Cincom), Star, Tsugami, Tornos, Hanwha, Nexturn, Miyano, Okuma Swiss, Mitsubishi. Fanuc controls come up constantly.

Programming. PartMaker still shows up by name in Swiss programmer ads. If you have it, put it in the first line of your resume — plenty of shops screen on it. GibbsCAM and Esprit appear too.

Setup, not just operation. Almost every posting on this list says setup. Running a Swiss somebody else set up is a different job from putting a new part into one, and the gap between those two things is most of the pay range above.

Inspection. Micrometers, comparators, optical. On parts this small, in-process inspection is as much of the job as the machining.

Unattended running. Bar feeders, lights-out, and knowing what to do so the machine doesn't scrap 400 parts overnight.

Tolerances. Tenths. Not everybody who says they hold tenths holds tenths.

How to get hired fastest

Name the machines in your first two lines. "Citizen L20, Tsugami B0326, six years setup" tells a shop more than a page of duties.

Say whether you program, set up, or run. Shops are hiring for one of those specifically.

Say whether you'll move. Several shops above pay relocation. Most machinists never mention it, so the ones who do stand out.

FAQ: CNC Swiss machining careers

What counts as Swiss experience?
Setup and operation of Swiss-type lathes — Citizen, Star, Tsugami, Tornos and similar. Most shops on this list want two or more years, or journeyman-level skill. Running a Swiss somebody else set up is a starting point, not the whole thing.

Do I need PartMaker?
Not for operator or setup roles. For Swiss programmer jobs it still comes up by name and it moves you up the list. GibbsCAM and Esprit show up as well.

What tolerances should I expect?
Tenths on a lot of it, especially medical. Bar diameters are often under half an inch, which is why inspection matters as much as cutting.

Do Swiss jobs pay relocation?
Some do. Cox Manufacturing lists relocation assistance for qualified candidates, and others will discuss it for the right person even when the ad doesn't say so. Ask.

Is nights worth it?
15% at Viant, a sign-on bonus at Lowell, weekend-days schedules at Ichor. On a $30 base, a 15% differential is roughly $9,000 a year. Whether that's worth the schedule is your call, but it isn't a rounding error.

Where does Swiss lead?
Operator to setup to programmer is the normal path, and each step is a real pay jump. From there it's lead, then process or manufacturing engineering — or across to the builder side, like the Marubeni Citizen-Cincom applications role above.

hireCNC lists CNC machining jobs across the U.S. and Canada, including Swiss roles most job boards never see. New jobs posted weekly.