Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
What Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers Do
Use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 1.8%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Production and Processingimportance 4.0/5
- Food Productionimportance 4.0/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.6/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.6/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.4/5
- Mechanicalimportance 3.3/5
- Personnel and Human Resourcesimportance 3.3/5
- Transportationimportance 3.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Spend Time Standing5.0/5
- Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions4.8/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.8/5
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.7/5
- Frequency of Decision Making4.6/5
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls4.6/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers96% skill match
- Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers94% skill match
- Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers94% skill match
- Hazardous Materials Removal Workers94% skill match
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand94% skill match
- Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs93% skill match
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic93% skill match
- Bridge and Lock Tenders93% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.0/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.9/5
- Coordinationimportance 2.9/5
- Time Managementimportance 2.9/5
- Service Orientationimportance 2.8/5
- Instructingimportance 2.6/5
- Management of Personnel Resourcesimportance 2.6/5
- Operations Monitoringimportance 2.5/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
In-Demand Technologies
Other Software Used
- Meat inventory software
- Sales software
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Cautiousness
- Stress Tolerance
- Integrity
- Self-Control
- Perseverance
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- InvestigativeLow
- EnterprisingLow
- SocialLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Gainesville, GA32.96× national avg
- 2Sioux City, IA-NE-SD24.17× national avg
- 3Fort Smith, AR-OK23.22× national avg
- 4Decatur, AL15.18× national avg
- 5St. Joseph, MO-KS12.91× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Slaughterers and Meat PackersLateral Move
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, HandCareer Change
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersLateral Move
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and PlasticLateral Move
See the full career path from Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers →