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Manufacturing

Meat process worker

Meat process workers produce meat products for the food manufacturing, catering and food retail industries.

Annual Salary

£17,000 to £25,000

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

42 to 44 a week

You could work: evenings / weekends; on shifts

0.7%
Future employment

There will be 0.7% fewer Meat process worker jobs in 2029.

Day to day tasks

Your day-to-day duties will depend on where you work. You could:

  • humanely slaughter and prepare livestock in an abattoir
  • cut, de-bone and prepare carcasses in a meat processing factory
  • prepare meat for retail or catering in meat or poultry processing plants
  • prepare meat for specialist catering orders in butcheries
  • make deliveries

Working environment

You may need to wear protective clothing.

You could work at an abattoir or in a factory.

Your working environment may be cold and physically demanding.

You can get into this job through:

  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • applying directly
College

You could do a college course, like proficiency in the meat and poultry industry, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need for this job.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an Abattoir Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship with a meat production company.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
For more information
  • find an apprenticeship|https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
  • guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
Direct application

You do not need any particular qualifications to apply directly for this job. Some employers may prefer you to have some GCSEs at grades 9 to 2 (A* to E).

You may have an advantage if you've got experience of using a forklift truck for moving stock, though this is not essential.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

  • To work as a slaughterman or slaughterwoman you must be licensed by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and aged 18 or over.
  • For production line work, you need to be at least 16.
  • You might need a driving licence if your job includes delivery duties.

More information

Career tips

In this job, you must be able to deal with the duties that come with handling animal carcasses.

Further information

You can find out more about careers in meat food production from Tasty Careers.

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You could become a shift supervisor or manager on the production line, or in an area like quality control, product development or food marketing.

With further experience you could train to become a meat hygiene inspector.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • the ability to work well with your hands
  • knowledge of manufacturing production and processes
  • the ability to work well with others
  • knowledge of food production methods
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to operate and control equipment
  • concentration skills
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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