Annual Salary
£22,000 to £33,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Engineering design or Maintenance or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Engineering design or Maintenance or go back to all job sectors
Engineering operatives make, service and repair machinery and tools across lots of different industries.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; on shifts
There will be
5.8% fewer Engineering operative jobs in 2027.
As an engineering operative, you could:
You may need to wear protective clothing.
You could work in a factory, in a workshop or on a construction site.
Your working environment may be dusty, hot and noisy.
You can get into this job through:
You could take a college course to learn some of the skills needed for this job.
Relevant courses include:
You could apply to do an Engineering Operative Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship, or a Machining Technician Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
These can take between 1 and 4 years to complete.
You'll usually need:
You can apply directly for jobs if you have engineering experience. This might be from mechanical servicing and repair, machinery fitting or electrical work.
You'll need to:
You'll find more advice on training and working in engineering from the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board and Neon.
With further training, you could become an engineering craftsperson or engineering technician. You could also specialise in a particular type of work, for example:CNC machining; fabrication and welding; machinery maintenance; heavy vehicle mechanics
You'll need: