Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code RC
Packers and Packagers, Hand
Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials.
Also called: Bagger, Packager, Packer, Selector Packer, Crater, Mini Shifter, Pack Out Operator, Packaging Specialist.
O*NET 53-7064.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $36,280
- Middle half earn $32,220 to $43,060. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 54% 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.
- Examine and inspect containers, materials, or products to ensure that product quality and packing specifications are met.
- Measure, weigh, and count products and materials.
- Remove completed or defective products or materials, placing them on moving equipment, such as conveyors, or in specified areas, such as loading docks.
- Record product, packaging, and order information on specified forms and records.
- Seal containers or materials, using glues, fasteners, nails, and hand tools.
- Assemble, line, and pad cartons, crates, and containers, using hand tools.
- Obtain, move, and sort products, materials, containers, and orders, using hand tools.
- Place or pour products or materials into containers, using hand tools and equipment, or fill containers from spouts or chutes.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
- Active Listening2.8 / 5
- Critical Thinking2.8 / 5
- Reading Comprehension2.6 / 5
- Speaking2.6 / 5
- Active Learning2.1 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Production and Processing4.0 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.2 / 5
- English Language3.0 / 5
- Administrative2.8 / 5
- Mathematics2.7 / 5
- Public Safety and Security2.7 / 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.
- Realistic77
- Investigative6
- Artistic8
- Social6
- Enterprising21
- Conventional74
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)
- canning and bottling line operator · DE Dosen- und Flaschenabfüllanlagenbediener/Dosen- und Flaschenabfüllanlagenbedienerin · FR opérateur de chaîne de mise en conserve et en bouteille/opératrice de chaîne de mise en conserve et en bouteille
- cigar brander · DE Zigarrenproduktionsmitarbeiter/Zigarrenproduktionsmitarbeiterin · FR préposé au marquage de cigares/préposée au marquage de cigares
- footwear finishing and packing operator · DE Schuhverpacker/Schuhverpackerin · FR agent de finition et d’emballage d’articles chaussants/agente de finition et d’emballage d’articles chaussants
- leather goods packing operator · DE Lederwarenverpacker/Lederwarenverpackerin · FR opérateur de finition sur articles en cuir et autres matériaux souples/opératrice de finition sur articles en cuir et autres matériaux souples
- packaging and filling machine operator · DE Verpackungs- und Abfüllanlagenbediener/Verpackungs- und Abfüllanlagenbedienerin · FR opérateur de conditionnement/opératrice de conditionnement
- clothing finisher · DE Textilverarbeiterhelfer/Textilverarbeiterhelferin · FR opérateur de finition textile/opératrice de finition textile
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Elementary storage occupations n.e.c. (9259)12,000 employed
- Delivery operatives (9253)21,800 employed
- Warehouse operatives (9252)383,400 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.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “包装従事者”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥214,400
- Middle half earn ¥187,000 to ¥256,900 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 73,780
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. 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.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €39,630 |
| Netherlands | €37,567 |
| Austria | €37,304 |
| Sweden | €36,005 |
| Germany | €34,433 |
| Ireland | €32,617 |
| France | €28,550 |
| Italy | €28,330 |
| Spain | €24,409 |
| Portugal | €11,309 |
| Poland | €10,259 |
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 -1.51. 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 (53-7064).
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