Production · Holland code RC

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

Use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.

Also called: Deboner, Meat Cutter, Trimmer, Wing Scorer, Beef Trimmer, Breast Trimmer, Chicken Cutter, Fish Processor.

O*NET 51-3022.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $38,300; Middle half earn $35,350 to $44,170. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Less than a High School Diploma; 62% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Use knives, cleavers, meat saws, bandsaws, or other equipment to perform meat cutting and trimming.
Weigh meats and tag containers for weight and contents.
Process primal parts into cuts that are ready for retail use.
Inspect meat products for defects, bruises or blemishes and remove them along with any excess fat.
Cut and trim meat to prepare for packing.
Separate meats and byproducts into specified containers and seal containers.
Prepare ready-to-heat foods by filleting meat or fish or cutting it into bite-sized pieces, preparing and adding vegetables or applying sauces or breading.
Clean, trim, slice, and section carcasses for future processing.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Monitoring3.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.4 / 5
Active Learning2.4 / 5

Knowledge areas

Production and Processing4.0 / 5
Food Production4.0 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.6 / 5
Mathematics3.6 / 5
Administration and Management3.4 / 5
Mechanical3.3 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic100
Investigative13
Artistic0
Social6
Enterprising7
Conventional49

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

butcher · DE Fleischer/Fleischerin · FR boucher/bouchère
halal butcher · DE Halal-Fleischer/Halal-Fleischerin · FR boucher en boucherie halal/bouchère en boucherie halal
kosher butcher · DE Fleischer mit Koscherzertifikat/Fleischerin mit Koscherzertifikat · FR boucher en boucherie casher/bouchère en boucherie casher
fish trimmer · DE Fischverarbeitungsmitarbeiter/Fischverarbeitungsmitarbeiterin · FR préparateur de poisson/préparatrice de poisson
meat cutter · DE Fleischverarbeiter/Fleischverarbeiterin · FR désosseur-pareur/désosseuse-pareuse
meat preparations operator · DE Fleischverarbeitungskraft · FR opérateur de transformation des viandes/opératrice de transformation des viandes

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Fishmongers and poultry dressers (5433)4,900 employed
Butchers (5431)21,300 employed
Food, drink and tobacco process operatives (8111)129,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Craft and related trades workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,086
Germany	€38,638
Austria	€38,194
Sweden	€37,856
Netherlands	€37,077
Ireland	€36,098
France	€27,145
Italy	€26,488
Spain	€22,817
Portugal	€11,142
Poland	€10,099

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.11. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-3022).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test