Slaughterers and Meat Packers

What Slaughterers and Meat Packers Do

Perform nonroutine or precision functions involving the preparation of large portions of meat. Work may include specialized slaughtering tasks, cutting standard or premium cuts of meat for marketing, making sausage, or wrapping meats. Work typically occurs in slaughtering, meat packing, or wholesale establishments.

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.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

• Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.6/5
• Food Productionimportance 3.4/5
• Production and Processingimportance 3.3/5
• English Languageimportance 3.1/5
• Law and Governmentimportance 2.8/5
• Mathematicsimportance 2.7/5
• Administrativeimportance 2.5/5
• Administration and Managementimportance 2.5/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

• Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.8/5
• Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls4.7/5
• Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.6/5
• Spend Time Standing4.3/5
• Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions4.3/5
• Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment4.2/5

Related Careers

• Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
• Butchers and Meat Cutters
• Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
• Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
• Food Preparation Workers
• Animal Breeders
• Packers and Packagers, Hand
• Cooks, Restaurant

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.

• Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders95% skill match
• Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers95% skill match
• Locomotive Engineers95% skill match
• Sewing Machine Operators94% skill match
• Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service94% skill match
• Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand93% skill match
• Bridge and Lock Tenders93% skill match
• Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders93% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

• Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.4/5
• Operations Monitoringimportance 2.3/5
• Operation and Controlimportance 2.1/5
• Troubleshootingimportance 2.1/5
• Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.1/5
• Coordinationimportance 2.0/5
• Service Orientationimportance 2.0/5
• Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.0/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

• Attention to Detail
• Dependability
• Stress Tolerance
• Cautiousness
• Self-Control
• Integrity
• 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

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where slaughterers and meat packers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1. 1Sioux City, IA-NE-SD33.22× national avg
2. 2Gainesville, GA19.77× national avg
3. 3Lebanon, PA14.63× national avg
4. 4Fresno, CA12.53× national avg
5. 5Fort Smith, AR-OK7.09× national avg

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.